


Chiaroscuro

by Aearyn



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, NSFW (eventually), mild violence, non-canon, violence mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-04-21 09:55:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14282424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aearyn/pseuds/Aearyn
Summary: This fic focuses on Zeph (OC) and Seven/Luciel's relationship with mostly just mention of other characters, although they may come more directly into the story later. Starts around Day 6 but please note it doesn't exactly follow the events of the game and even the events that are mentioned may be out of sequence somewhat.The large portions in italics are Zeph writing to her diary (you'll obviously pick up on that but just for clarity's sake). Overall it's kind of messy but I figured I'd post since maybe some other people are starving for Saeyoung (I should get a damn t-shirt).





	1. Chapter 1

_Day…what is today anyway? Monday? Six days since I came to this weird apartment…_

_Yes yes, I know, I haven’t written anything since before then. I’m sure you were worried. Or you would be, if you were a person. If I had any friends to be worried about me. Ha!_

_So I got the weird message, I came to this place – which, honestly, is a good bit nicer than mine, so there’s that…am I crazy for signing on with this bunch of weirdos? No, I’m kidding, they’re mostly nice. And it’s not like I can’t do my own work in between all the other stuff…I don’t even have a project due for weeks anyway. Nor do I have a paycheck for a few weeks either, sooo…eh, a problem to tackle later._

_Anyway, there’s Jumin, he’s a Fancy Businessman™, who is in love with his cat, Elizabeth the 3 rd. Or Elizabeth-chan, as I like to call her in my head, just because I know it would annoy him. And then there’s his assistant, Jaehee, who seems to have the work ethic of a god. A god of…work, I guess. I dunno. Anyway she’s super diligent and he doesn’t thank her half as much as he ought to. _

_Zen – wayyy too full of himself but on further acquaintance is actually not that bad, if you can get past his constant self-compliments. Into Jaehee? Maybe? Seems quite concerned for her, at least. She definitely has a thing for him, even though she says she’s only a ‘fan’. Fan my ass._

_Yoosung, oh my god. Reminds me of me at 18…well, the gaming anyway. I still think he’ll grow out of his obsession; I did! Well it was never an obsession with me, just something to drag me away from my depressing reality, LOL._

_I should probably not type “LOL” at my diary. But whatever. Anyway._

_There’s V, who I only talked to for a second when I first got here, seems like he doesn’t come around much, physically or digitally. Maybe since it was his girlfriend who died, that used to live here? Seems nice enough though._

_And then…Seven. 707, Luciel, whatever…Luciel though. An odd name he chose. Or no, Zen or somebody said it was his ‘baptismal’ name…so I guess someone else picked it, but I wonder what his birth name is?  Hye? Joon? Ha! Don’t be an idiot, Zeph._

_So…yeah. There’s him._

_I refuse to justify myself to an inanimate and ethereal object, Diary. That would be ridiculous._

_Yes, I’m well aware I didn’t really say anything about him._

_Fine, he’s cute, alright? And…silly. And a genius. And crazy. And….possibly Crazy™. Like me? Nah, no one is crazy like me. But…he sort of…gets me, I guess. On one level or another. And…_

_I hate saying real shit here. But I think he knows something about secrets. Pretending. Hiding yourself. He works for some agency – god, you don’t think it could be the same??? NO. I absolutely refuse to consider it._

_But now I have to consider it. Shit. He’d never tell me if I asked; how could he? How could I? I know how that business works, don’t I? Well, that’s a laugh – I don’t know anything, which is of course the problem. Was….the problem. Whatever, anyway the point is I’ll never know. It’s not like he’s about to open up to some rando that just joined his club. He does seem…interested? Maybe? But…would I even want someone interested in me, if they worked for…them?_

_UGH I do really like him though! GOD GOD GOD why didn’t I just keep my damn distance like I normally do? Why did I even sign up for this shit at all…_

_Oh right, to lighten the desperate and monotonous drone of my existence. Hahaha._

_PFFFF I gotta go he’s calling!! Ugh it’s like I’m 15 again…_

_  
******* _

 

_Alright so…I swear to god if someone tries to break in this apartment I will be taking out **ALL** of my frustration on them. They’d better keep their distance. _

_Apparently there are hackers trying to infiltrate the RFA, sending weird emails, etc – and I’m almost sure they’re the same people that led me here. So they clearly know where this place is, not to mention the damn security code. I mean of course I have the extra locks secured too but…_

_Not scared – hardly, unless they come with a whole posse it’ll be them who leaves in a body bag, not me. But it is a little unnerving, staying in a strange place, knowing someone’s on your tail. Had that feeling before, didn’t like it. Don’t like it now._

_The weird thing is, Seven has cameras out in the hall, right, and he just told me earlier he has one on the inside of my door as well. Just pointing at the door. And in any other situation I’d be creeped out? But…a couple of times I’ve waved at the camera (well, and made weird faces, haha), and later he texted and said he saw me! So now I can imagine he’s waving back, which is…nice?_

_He made me a robot dog! Well, he says it wasn’t specifically for me, just something he made, and unfortunately I can’t actually HAVE it since it’s spitting fire everywhere, but…still very cute._

_What is wrong with me?? Like flirting with him and saying stupid stuff in chat is one thing but…now I’m getting actual butterflies when he calls? I need to get control of this, it’s ridiculous. Absolutely implausible. Utter nonsense. UGH. Stupid Zeph, stupid stupid…_

_I don’t even know who he is! Where he’s from! And I think he works for them. They killed my parents! Well, not directly, probably, although I don’t even know! How can I trust him?_

_I do though. I totally do. Idiot girl._

_  
******* _

 

_Okay now I have lost all self-control…_

_But I have to explain. This morning, he called, and he…hinted, that he was thinking about me a lot. And that he wanted to hear my voice because he’s hearing it in his head and he needs to hear the real thing so he can stop thinking about it – yes okay now that I write that it seems weird as hell. But it’s totally something I would do so I get it. But anyway so I just replied like…”hmmm” or whatever and he flipped out and was like oh my god don’t talk like that it drives me crazy! And I just…my face got all flushed, and my stomach turned over, and I completely lost my cool. I just…have zero chill anymore, apparently._

_I went to the door…while I was on the phone with him, and of course he…saw…that I was there in front of the camera, and he was just saying bye, and I was like “bye”, all breathy, and I BLEW HIM A KISS. At the camera._

_WHAT THE ACTUAL SHIT, ME????_

_Okay he flipped out but I hung up afterwards and ran back to the bed? And really, okay on the surface, yes, I need to calm down, and that was stupid, right? But even more importantly…who am I? What person have I turned into?_

_The jokes, the crazy attitude, all that is supposed to be the front that keeps people AWAY from me. And now I’m like…using it to try and reel someone IN? I don’t even know myself anymore._

_Maybe I never did. Maybe this is why no one in my family wanted to keep me around – I don’t have a real personality. I just put on whatever is convenient at the time. I’m not even a real human._

_Ugh, I hate getting sentimental. Much better to float on top of one’s emotions and never experience them. I blame him for this…stupid boy with his crazy red hair and golden eyes…_

_And secrets, Zeph. Don’t forget the secrets._

_  
******* _

 

“How many?”

“Why are you asking me that? Just one, but that doesn’t matter! I’m telling you, head to the fire escape, I’ve got protocols in place for—”

“They’re knocking…just…hold on—” She dropped the phone on the bed, pushed up her sleeves, and walked towards the door.

“Zeph! Zeph what are you doing!!” she heard him yelling, the sound growing fainter as she left the bedroom, and reached the front door just as they punched in the code and turned the main knob. But of course they still had the deadbolt and the latch to get through.

She unlocked them both, glancing at the camera as she did so. She threw Seven a wink, hoping he understood this to be a signal that she knew what she was doing.

As long as the intruder didn’t have a gun, this should be easy enough. Even if they did….probably still not a problem.

She threw the door open. The intruder blinked – taller than her by two or three inches, lanky, dressed in black, masked. Smelled of motor oil. Odd.

Then he came at her, a rather clumsy grab, and she planted her elbow right in his sternum, followed by a blow to the head.

He staggered back with a shocked gasp. Regrouped, lunged again, this time with movements a bit more precise.

It didn’t matter; she ducked the hands reaching for her, then twirled around and kicked him in the knee. He grunted, went down briefly, but before she could knee him in the face, he lunged up again, grabbing the front of her pajamas, nearly ripping them off, his other hand going for her head.

She put up her arm, blocking his grasp, at the same time twisting back the thumb that held the front of her shirt.

Then she kneed him in the groin.

That took him down for a few seconds, and this time she took the opportunity to plant her knee in his masked nose.

She was about to find something heavy in order to full knock him out, but her phone made a weird noise, like an alarm. She rolled her eyes – probably Seven trying to get her back to safety.

Shoving him out the door, she locked it again – deadbolts and all – and went to grab the phone.

“Seven, seriously, I was this close to—”

“That wasn’t me! Toss the phone! TOSS THE—”

The line went dead, and she quickly threw the phone into the shower enclosure.

It burst into flames. Shit…she knew they’d hacked the app once but she didn’t think they’d be able to do it again, with the extra protections Seven had put into the system. Shit shit shit.

They could probably easily get into her personal laptop, if they knew who she was…which they had to, right? She had her own safeguards on it but they wouldn’t be as good as the Genius of the RFA, and if they could penetrate his, then hers were…well, basically useless.

And now she couldn’t even call him. Could she email him with the RFA laptop? She’d have to rely on that, for now. But she’d keep an eye out for anything weird in the email app, just in case.

She felt a draft, and looked down, realizing with shock that her tank top was ripped nearly in half…thankfully it didn’t seem that anything…important was exposed, but Seven had certainly gotten an eyeful.

Remembering that he was still probably watching the cameras, in a state of high agitation, she ran back over to the door and waved, giving him an exaggerated thumbs up.

Then she allowed herself a few moments of self-satisfaction. She’d been confident she could best the intruder, and she did; would have done worse to him, had it not been for the alarm on the phone luring her away. She wondered if he was still out there…could Seven alter the code on the door to something they couldn’t hack? Surely he would have already done that. But it didn’t matter – if the guy came back, she’d finish what she started.

Then again…what if he came back with reinforcements? She was fairly satisfied with her abilities, and didn’t worry much about a single attacker. But several guys…especially armed…that would be a problem.

Dammit.

She got dressed, and turned on the shower to put out the last smoking remnants of the phone, then put it in a bag to give to Seven at some point, in case there was a physical device inside it that he could use to track the hackers. The thought of such a thing was extremely distasteful to her, but she couldn’t deny the possibility.

When she sat back down at the computer, there were already three emails from Seven, but the third was almost gibberish.

WHERE ARE YOU?? ARE YOU OKAY?? PRINCESS ZEPH, PLEASE RESPOND

WHAT HAPPENED WILL YOU EMAIL ME BACK YOU COULD BE DEAD AND I WOULD oh thank god I just saw your face on the camera!!!! 

I never should have…I was wrong…I have to…#@$(*&@#()$*)(#@*$

She stared at the screen, head cocked, and wrote him back.

I’m fine, God Seven, but the phone is toast, and…if they come back, I’m not sure what to do? Fire escape next time?

No answer. She sat for ten minutes, then sent him another email.

Umm…you do realize this is the only way I can talk to the Defender of Justice, right? So uhh…

What the hell was he doing? Was he working so hard on protecting the apartment that he couldn’t answer her right now?

She sighed, and flopped down on the couch, careful to keep an eye on the computer in case he finally wrote her back.

But five minutes later, she heard someone at the door. Fidgeting with the keypad.

Shit…what was she going to do? Surely he would have brought more guys this time, and she didn’t know what plan B was, they hadn’t made a plan B, she hadn’t even really looked at the fire escape but if that was—

_  
******* _

 

“ **ZEPH! OPEN THE DOOR**!”

The bizarre sensation of her heart and stomach flopping over at once almost made her nauseous; she practically flung herself at the door, fumbling with the extra locks, her hands nearly shaking, a symptom of the riotous pounding in her chest.

When it finally opened, they stood there staring at one another for a full five seconds.

And then he was kissing her.

One hand in her hair – her _real_ hair – the other fumbled behind him to push the door shut, re-engage the locks, and then that arm went around her, but never did his lips leave hers.

Gods above, how could she survive this? She’d been worried about the danger she was in from her assailant, but this…

This was far more dangerous.

She was on fire, and drowning, and electrified, all at once – if she died from the sheer overload she wouldn’t even care.

That was a lie; if this was what kissing him felt like, there were other things she could think of…

He pulled back, and stared at her eyes for what seemed an impossible length of time.

“You…your eyes. They’re green.”

She nodded solemnly.

“Why…”

“It’s a long story.” She looked away, and was unsurprised when he stepped back, dropping his hands to his sides.

She had that effect on people. At least…once they got a glimpse into her actual personality, beyond the façade she chose to show. Or once she'd successfully pushed them away, as she did with almost everyone. Well, at least with him she wouldn't have to try very hard.


	2. Chapter 2

_So I thought it was me, but…I was wrong. At least, partially. It turns out…ironically enough…we’re more similar than he realizes. He told me – me! – to give up any ‘feelings’ for him, because he was ‘dangerous’. I laughed, and now he thinks I’m stupid, unaware of the dangers, naïve. Whatever; it doesn’t matter, because he’s right about one thing._

_There’s no way we could have been together anyway. And he needs to forget about me just as much as I do about him. Easier said than done, maybe, but it’s for the best._

_However, harder than I even thought at first, because he’s staying here, for the moment. To fix the huge fucking mess that Rika and V started…_

_Well, let me just explain. He’s let us all in on the secret about this place._

_There’s a fucking BOMB. In this apartment. That is supposed to detect intruders, and then blow up before said intruders can access any of the party guests’ data._

_A bomb! In an apartment! What kind of idiotic, careless, bizarre—_

_Well, I never knew Rika, but apparently she was a little crazy. But the point is, now he has to figure out why it didn’t activate when that guy was at the door (apparently it should have at least notified us that the perimeter was breached, but he only knew because of the cameras). He said it’s basically impossible that it got hacked, but…that seems to be what happened. So he has to be sure that it’s 100% fixed, before he can leave, in case it goes off while I’m here._

_\---  
Honestly, I’m just…I don’t know. All this is turning out to be more than I bargained for. _

_I can’t stop myself from wanting to go and talk to him, even though he said I should stay away, try to forget he’s here. How can I forget? He asked me to stay within view – said it makes him nervous when I’m out of his sight. And yet he also said I shouldn’t ‘bother’ him…ugh, I don’t know._

_I’m going over there. Wish me luck._

_\---  
Well, not only has our situation gotten worse…_

_Seven…Luciel…Saeyoung. That’s his real name._

_Something happened this morning – and everything has fallen apart because of it._

_He has a brother. And his brother…is the hacker. The Hacker, the one who sent the Mint Eye messages…I don’t even know how to process all this and I’ve been thinking about it for hours. He left his brother to work at the agency when they were young, and he apparently thought his brother was in good hands, but…_

_V’s unreachable, and Seven understandably has a lot of questions for him, since he was involved in all this, but I just…_

_I hate this. I want to comfort him, help him – he just saw his brother after more than a decade! And – AND found that his brother is the one attacking the RFA! This is all confusing enough to me, but for him…_

_But he’s closed off even more since the incident. Ignores everything I say, turns up his music when I come near._

_I guess I should explain what actually happened._

_Someone broke in, through the window – the same guy that came before. His black eye was still healing. He tried to take me with him – what a joke. But somehow he didn’t seem to realize that Seven was there, and when he came out of the bathroom…_

_I had his arm behind his back, but he just sort of went slack, and there was this weird conversation that I had trouble following, and then…_

_Then he took his mask off, and I let him go and stood back because it seemed Seven knew him, and…_

_Saeran, his brother. That he hadn’t seen in years. And then…_

_Then the stupid bomb activated, and he had to leave or risk blowing the three of us to smithereens._

_Apparently V was supposed to have been protecting Saeran, had told Seven that he was fine, but now…obviously all that is in question. And Seven wants to ask V but he can’t be reached, so…I don’t know what to do. There’s nothing I can do, but try to answer these stupid party emails, and try to calm everyone else down since they can see Seven is drastically different lately…although he hasn’t told them the truth yet._

_And on top of all that…I’m pretty convinced that he’s in serious trouble with his actual job. He’s mentioned something about Vanderwood a couple times, and putting together things he’s said before…I suspect Vanderwood is another agent. And I think she’s probably looking for him._

_I’ve always been so good at keeping my emotions in check, but now…I’m just…I’m still worried about him, dammit! And every time he turns away…it’s like a knife twisting in my gut. I’m so stupid!_

_Yeah. Wayyyy more than I bargained for._

 

**_***_ **

 

“You didn’t eat.”

“I ate something earlier,” she answered flatly, eyes not leaving her laptop.

“Are you…” He swallowed. “Are you working on party stuff?”

“I’m on my laptop, not the phone."

“Oh.”

“Is there something you needed?” She finally turned her eyes to him, and he seemed to flinch.

“No. Nothing.”

He left.

It wasn’t that hard to maintain her distance, now. She was still nice to everyone else, but he’d been cold to her one too many times. She’d tried to tell him…

She had secrets too. She didn’t know if she could ever relate all the things that had happened to her. Or if he would ever share what had really happened all those years ago, and who he worked for. Could she be with someone where most of both their lives was kept under a rug, only sharing the little bit they both deemed acceptable?

Which in her case, wasn’t even her real self…and now she knew it wasn’t for him either.

But he didn’t care to hear any of that. He knew who she was, he insisted – he’d had to look up her information when she first came here. As if that told him much of anything.

Every attempt she’d made had been rebuffed, and she was tired of trying. It didn’t matter anyway. But she was damned if she’d keep throwing herself at him if he didn’t want anything to do with her.

 

**_***_ **

 

Zeph got out of the shower, getting totally dressed in the bathroom now that there was someone else here with her.

Or at least, the shadow of another person.

She sighed, and shook her head. She had to stop thinking about him. It had been days since he’d said a single nice thing to her, if you didn’t count “it makes me nervous when you leave my sight.”

When she stepped out, he wasn’t in his usual spot in the chair in the corner. Had he gone downstairs to the store? Doubtful he would have left her here alone while she was in the shower…

He was in her room.

Staring at her laptop.

“Ex _cuse_ you?? What are you doing?”

“What the hell is wrong with you! You can’t just go writing secrets like this, we’ve been dealing with a hacker the whole time! Don’t you even know what a hacker is!”

She reached for the laptop, rage mounting. “The wifi is turned off, genius! It hasn’t been on since I got here! Not to mention, that file is local only and encrypted, how did you even—”

“You left it open, Zeph! How could you be so stupid, even if it is encrypted they could still—”

“Oh so your brother’s going to find out that you…what? That you know about him? Jesus, Seven!”

She reached again, and he tossed the laptop on the bed carelessly.

She grabbed his wrist in an iron grip. “Stay away from my things! Just because I’m in this stupid apartment doesn’t mean I’m RFA’s property!”

As soon as she let him go he grabbed her in turn, pinning her arm behind her, against the wall.

He was too close – her ire was bubbling over. “If you don’t let me go, so help me—”

“You’ll what? Beat me up like you did Saeran? I’m a lot stronger than him, so don’t get ahead of yourself!”

“Beat you up? Seven you know nothing about me! Nothing!” Her eyes flashed, thinking of all the things she could tell him – but wouldn’t.

“Of course I do! You know very well I had to look up your background when you first joined the RFA—”

“Yes, you know where I was born. That I lived with different family members. Right? Is that what you know?” She was perilously close to telling him the truth – at least one truth. Just to shock a real reaction out of him, teach him he wasn’t all-knowing about everyone just because he could read some damn files in a computer.

“I know you tested out of your last two years of school at 16, and that you’ve moved a lot since then, and that you work as a graphic designer—”

“Yes, very good! You’re a genius, for looking up some basic shit!”

“Then what is it you think I need to know!” He’d stepped back slightly, his arms crossed, but he still stood over her with a belligerent gleam in his eye.

“You don’t know the reasons why I moved all those times! Why I went from family to family, and then place to place after that! Why I had to test out at 16, so I could move away!”

“Then why don’t you explain it to me?”

“None of them wanted me, Seven! My parents, who for all I know worked for the same agency that you do, died, and every single one of those relatives only took me in  because they felt guilty. But not guilty enough to pretend I was a real member of the family, oh no. And not guilty enough to let me stay there forever; eventually every single one shuffled me off to the next. At some they were just cold, others hateful. Sometimes the children were okay, but some were bullies. That’s why I learned to fight.

“Until I ended up with Ji-hoon. My cousin, and his son, Junseo.” She took a deep breath – her anger wasn’t diminishing, oh no. Only multiplying as she thought of the injustices she suffered in that house. But she, less so than Junseo.

“Junseo was sensitive, and sweet, and little. Older than me, but not…wiser. And Ji-hoon was horrible to him. He beat him, mentally and physically, every day of his life. And when I tried to intervene, he beat me too. I knew that he’d kill his son someday, either that or…twist him into something else. I had to stop him. But who would believe that the successful businessman Ji-hoon was cruel to his son? He was a pillar of the community…”

Seven had stepped back and regarded her with trepidation, and she almost laughed, albeit without humor. At least she’d gotten his attention now.

“I’d only stayed at school to keep an eye on Junseo, make sure he didn’t feel alone. But I finally decided to test out, because that way I could get a job immediately somewhere else, once I left. Junseo was at an orientation at a business college. He didn’t want to go there, hated the idea of it, but Ji-hoon had just signed him up without even asking.

“I confronted Ji-hoon. I told him he needed to keep his hands off of Junseo, or I’d make him sorry. He laughed at me, and threw a vase at my head. I dodged it, and he screamed at me for making him break one of his precious possessions.

“Zeph…” Seven’s brow was lowered, and he tried to search her eyes, but she wouldn’t look at him.

“He came after me, tried to hit me, but I was much faster than he was, and I was mad. And then he said…that I was the one who would be sorry…when Junseo came back. He was convinced Junseo and I were in a secret relationship, and it disgusted him. He’d make Junseo pay for my transgressions, was what he told me.”

She paused, and then she did raise her eyes, pale green lit with the fire of remembered hatred.

“So I killed him.”


	3. Chapter 3

Seven’s eyes went wide.

Then she did laugh, mirthlessly, at how much he saw he’d misjudged her. If he’d ever had any tender feelings towards her, they were gone now.

“I threw him down the stairs, and he broke his neck. I had to call the police, even though I wanted to just let him rot there, so it didn’t look suspicious. I’d just gotten home and he was like that, I told them. Of course it would never occur to them that a 16 year old girl had done such a thing. I didn’t even stay for the funeral; I was too sad, I said, and wanted to start over somewhere else. I could barely keep a straight face when I told them such lies.”

“Junseo…he never knew. Still doesn’t know. But he went to the school he actually wanted, and now he’s with someone, and he’s happy, and that’s all that matters.”

“And that's part of the reason I've moved a lot, although there are other…less deadly transgressions. So now that you know I’m a murderer, do you still want me in the RFA?” she asked with cutting sarcasm.

“What's the point of the RFA?” he shouted, surprising her. “I can't trust V, and he's the head of it! The RFA isn't what I care about right now, what you’ve said—”

“Yes, I trust you won’t tell anyone my deepest darkest secret.” She started throwing her things into her bag. “Jaehee can handle the rest of the party. I’ve already replied to everyone, it’s in two days, and most guests are already signed up. I’m done.”

“What?”

“I’m done with this place, I’m done with the RFA, and I’m done with you. I can’t do this anymore.”

Silence.

This was what he'd wanted, wasn't it? For her to leave him alone?

She refused to look at him as she gathered the things she'd brought from her own apartment, tossing them into her overnight bag. She heard him sit on the bed, but studiously ignored him.

But suddenly she stopped.

She thought about the few friends she'd made. Keiko at her last job; Junseo, a couple others. Those few had persisted. Had insisted that they would get to know her, beyond her bright outer shell. They'd chipped away at her until they saw. She'd pushed them away, at first – as she had everyone – but they wouldn't take "I don't care" for an answer; they saw something in her, something more than what she tried to portray.

Maybe…

Maybe she was giving up too easily.

She dropped her bag, and Seven immediately stood, his brow still lowered but with something that looked more like worry, now, than anger.

She approached him; he turned away. But now that she'd figured out how similar they were…

She wrapped her arms around him, and leaned her head against his back.

"What are you doing? Why are you…" She thought she heard his voice catch a little. He stood carefully still, not engaging with her, but he didn't pull away.

She cleared her throat; hugging him was one thing, but…talking…about her feelings, no less, and to the actual object of said feelings…

"I…I really like you, Seven. I mean, duh, you know that already," she chuckled nervously and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I told you—"

"I know what you told me. And I don't care. I trusted you with the truth, and now you know that…you're no more dangerous than I am. We're the same."

Eyes still tightly closed, she waited…despite her boldness she was completely unsure of what his reaction would be. If he continued pushing her away, she didn’t know what she'd do. She'd never been in this position before…

"We're not. Something bad could happen to you because of me, and you can't say the same, regardless of your past. How can you just…"

"I don't care about that."

He sighed, but as he did his shoulders relaxed, and though he didn't take her hands, he leaned back against her, ever so slightly.

She grinned into his hoodie. She would show him…somehow. That even if there was darkness in both of them, following both of them, they could become brighter together. They could lighten the shadows in each other.

"How am I going to work with you clinging onto me?" he demanded, his voice approaching his previous playfully annoyed tone.

"You'll figure it out. You're a genius, remember?"

 ---

A bit later, the opportunity arose to finally do something she’d been contemplating several times since they’d found out about Saeran.

She didn’t want to crowd him, smother him, just because they’d ‘made up’, but she sat working at the desk in the bedroom, in full view of where he was set up on the living room floor with all his gear. She stole glances at him from time to time, and at one point she saw him staring at…was that a CD? Who carried CDs around anymore…

“Heya! Come here, I want to show you something,” he called.

She went and sat on the floor next to him as he put the CD into one of his larger laptops. She was about to make a crack about him having a CD drive, when she glanced at his face. It was…

Confused. Sad. Maybe a little angry. Just what kind of crazy playlist was on this CD, anyway?

The “Open File” dialogue came up, and she realized it was a CD-R, not CD-RW – there wasn’t music on it, but files. He opened a slideshow of images, and she gasped.

It was him – playing in the sun, happy. A much younger him; six or seven years ago, a young teenager. Even aside from the physical age difference, the change in his eyes, his personality, were even more stark.

“Wow…you seemed so happy back then…”

“That isn’t me.”

“Huh?” Impossible, it looked so much like—

“Oh my god. Saeran?” He nodded. She stared for a moment, unable to process the difference. “What happened to him…” she whispered almost involuntarily.

“That’s what I have to find out,” he said grimly, haunted eyes locked on the pictures. “Rika sent me this a couple years ago, to prove to me that he was okay…but as you saw, he emphatically is not.”

He drew a shuddering breath, his eyes bright with unshed tears as they rested on the computer screen. Zeph felt a dense pain in her chest at the look on his face.

“The only reason I left there was because I thought…he would be taken care of. This whole life, leaving everyone behind all the time, changing my identity…all that was for him.” When he turned to look at her, the guilt in his gaze was crushing. “I can never forgive myself for what’s happened to him. He’s obviously not happy, not safe. Regardless of how it happened…it’s my fault.”

“No, no, no,” Zeph whispered, wrapping her arms around him; he remained stiff, but she didn’t let go. “It’s _not_ your fault – you did your best, you made the best decision you could at the time!”

Finally he made a muffled noise, and leaned into her. “You can’t imagine the weight…I thought I saved him, Zeph, I tried so hard…and now…”

“I do understand, I do,” she murmured. “I know how awful I would feel if Junseo turned up angry and…and twisted, especially if it seemed like it might be my fault. And he wasn’t even my real brother, just for a year or two…”

He sighed heavily and embraced her, arms tight around her back, but his tension had uncoiled, just a little. If that’s what she could do for him – help him believe he wasn’t alone, share his burden – she was happy to.

“I…forgot,” he mumbled. “You _can_ understand…” He leaned back finally and took her face in his hands. “Thank you, Zeph.”

“I’m here, Seven. Anytime you need.”

 

***

 

_Things have been…better. Since our 'fight'. Well, since I bullied him into talking to me. Hey look my annoying personality wins again!_

_On the other hand, this business with V…well, V told us very specifically not to open some drawer in the apartment, and…Seven is very suspicious. I can't blame him, not anymore. V seems very nice but I don't know him, haven't talked to him much at all, and then he logs on JUST to tell Seven that? Definitely fishy. I'm guessing eventually Seven's gonna open it, and if he does I'll support him._

_But I don't want to think about that, not right this moment._

_It's…kind of…wow. I've literally never had this much fun in my life, even though everything is fucked up right now. I don't even know what to make of it, like…_

_This morning he chased me around the apartment (it's not that big, seriously) threatening to bite me. It's a good thing an alarm went off on his computer before he caught me or…I don't know what would have happened. It was hilarious but also…yeah. So._

_And then he CALLED me, from the other room? Again, to tell me I was out of his sight, but this time he was just being funny, complaining…_ god _it was cute. So I took my stuff into the living room, sat right behind him on the couch, where he's posted up on the floor with all his hacker paraphernalia. I ruffled his hair, and he yelled at me, but then he…he caught my hand…and he kissed it with this absurdly loud smack._

_I swear to god if he keeps going like this…I don't know what I'll even do with myself._

_I know I said before that I didn't know myself, or who I'm turning into, but…that's not it. It's that I don't_ recognize _this me that he brings out. This me that's not putting on a face, but is just…happy. I mean not that everything is roses – it emphatically isn't. But…that's the thing. The situation is jacked, and yet…I feel good. About things. About the future. How is that possible?_

_It's because of him. That dork makes all sorts of things seem possible that didn't before—I CAN SEE YOU READING THIS. D O R K ……..,,,,,,,,,,,MMMMMMMMMM_

_***_

She squealed as he tried to grab her laptop away from her, but unlike the last time he'd 'illegally' perused her diary entries, this time he was taking exaggerated offense at her 'insult', imperiously demanding how she could dare to call him such a thing – he was The Extreme Agent Seven Zero Seven, there wasn't a dorky bone in his body!

She didn't think he'd read more than that last sentence….she hoped. They might have been more honest with one another but she wasn't ready for him to see quite _all_ of her real feelings.

She'd backed up onto the arm of the couch and was trying to hold the computer out of his reach, but since his greatly exceeded hers, that wasn't much of a strategy. He easily extended his arm past hers and pulled her computer out of her hand, but instead of greedily reading the rest of what she'd written, he laid it down on the floor, and suddenly she was enveloped in an unexpected embrace.

Her heart thudded so hard it almost hurt; he knelt in front of her on the cushions, arms around her waist, head against her shoulder.

"MMmmm." He sort of grunted in apparent contentment.

She responded in kind, one of her hands moving to run through his hair. "Hmmm…" she hummed softly.

"You can't make cute noises," he groused half-heartedly, his words muffled in her shirt.

"You're the one being cute, I can't be annoying when you're hugging me," she protested.

"Ah. That makes sense." They sat there for a few minutes, and she genuinely smiled, something she'd been doing more and more the past day.

"So all I have to do to keep you from annoying me is to hug you, huh?"

"Well, over time that may lose its effectiveness. Diminishing returns and all that."

"I see." Suddenly hands that had been resting gently and non-threateningly against her back shifted slightly, and her eyes flew open.

Then fluttered shut again when he spoke, his breath warm on her neck. "Maybe I should…do some research…for future reference…"

They held there, seconds stretching out, as he seemed to wait for her answer. She pondered as dutifully as possible in the circumstances – for at least three, maybe four seconds.

"Good idea."

The words were barely out of her mouth when his own was on her skin, and she sucked in a breath as he teased her neck with his lips.

She'd been so diligent about stamping down the arousal she felt around him, knowing they'd passed a milestone in whatever relationship they had, not wanting to push it, ruin anything.

But…surely this was okay? He'd initiated it, after all…

That was her last coherent thought for a solid half hour, as they picked up where they'd let off that first day he'd come to the apartment and kissed her as soon as he walked in the door. If she thought _that_ was electrifying…she'd clearly underestimated him.

Eventually they lay on the couch, still fully clothed of course but…perhaps not for long, given how heavily they were making out, how insistent his hands were, now, all over her – _god_ she wanted him…

"S-Seven," she whispered, with the final shred that remained of her composure. She'd almost – _almost_ – called him his real name, but something stopped her; something told her she should save that. Not to mention it would probably set him off, one way or another.

"God-Seven, at your service," he breathed into her ear as he pulled her tighter against him, and she almost dissolved at how different his voice could be, even saying the same ridiculous things he said in the chat and on the phone…

"We…we should…."

At just that moment, both their phones dinged that a chat room was open in the RFA app. A serendipitous interruption, since she didn't think she could have completed her sentence, which was supposed to end with “slow down”.

"Aaahhhh!" Seven yelled angrily at their phones, which sat side by side on the floor next to the couch. But he got up – after giving her a loud kiss on the nose – and logged in, if reluctantly, to give the others an update.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully y'all caught that the gigantic 'typo' was purposeful because a certain mischievous boy interrupted her lol....


	4. Chapter 4

Zeph obediently stood a little behind Seven as he wielded he hammer on the defenseless drawer; she could have thought of easier ways to open it, but she wouldn't deny him letting off a little steam this way.

The drawer face burst in a shower of splinters. Seven pulled out the contents and started to walk  back to the coffee table with them, but…

"Seven…what…" Zeph mumbled as she caught a good look at what was on top of the stack of papers.

"Mint Eye," he whispered in disbelief. "Zeph…this is…"

"Let's just lay everything out and look at it all—"

He was already dumping it on the table, sitting on the couch, shuffling the papers…

"This is the facility where Saeran is! I've been studying the layout!"

"How is that possible??"

He shook his head slowly. "I…I don't know, but I have to find out. And Zeph…I know I said before that I don't trust V any longer, but…this proves it. You can't trust him either."

She tore her eyes away from the creepy logo on the pages and raised them to his. "I trust _you_."

A look of near pain came over his face, and he put his free hand on her face for a second. "You shouldn't. But thank you. I…it means a lot that you say that."

"We'll find your brother, I promise," she whispered earnestly. "We'll fix this."

His eyes returned to the drawer's contents. "I'm afraid this means…I'll need to go to that place as soon as possible. I have to find him, I don't think it can wait for the party. But…I can't ask you to go with me."

"Good thing you don't have to ask."

For a moment he lowered his head to his hands, elbows propped on his knees, and she worried he was going to revert to his previous behavior – push her away, insist on doing it himself. She was ready to dig in, be stubborn about it – she wasn't about to let him do this alone. But suddenly he turned and enveloped her in a fierce hug.

"I don't know what I did to deserve someone like you…"

"Probably all sorts of terrible things," she joked weakly, hugging him back.

"Hush," he scolded, tightening his hold. "We deserve each other…"

She managed to nod, suddenly unable to speak further. Just a few days ago she would have interpreted his statement negatively – they were both terrible people with dark pasts and dim realities. But that wasn't what it meant anymore.

"I'll stay by your side, Saeyoung," she finally whispered, his name falling naturally from her lips before she could stop herself.

He abruptly pulled back; his eyes were wet, but he ignored that, and leaned forward to kiss her sweetly, one hand on her cheek. Then he leaned his forehead against hers. "I…hope you'll call me that, from now on," he murmured, a little hoarse. "I don't want to be a number, or a made up name, to you. I want to be myself. For once."

She smiled, and with her thumb wiped away the single tear that trailed down his cheek. "Of course. _You_ , Saeyoung, are who I care about – and though I think Luciel, and 707 are parts of you, it's all of you that I want, not just the funny side."

A little of his usual spunk reasserted itself. "Heyyy, you're going to kill me, talking like that. Imagine if my boss finds out I was taken out by a pretty girl, after all the missions I've been on…"

"Well if you're that weak to words, imagine all the other ways I could kill you," she whispered evilly.

"Hey hey hey! Stop! We have work to do!" He backed away from her as if afraid, and she giggled but relented – now was not the time.

"Agreed. Where do we start?"

# ***

“I thought we already decided I'm going?" Zeph stood in the center of the apartment, half dressed, arms crossed.

"You aren't supposed to physically help me! You're supposed to stay in the car! And will you PLEASE put the rest of your clothes on, I can't—"

"Uh uh!" she refused point blank. "Either I help you in that place or neither of us is going anywhere!"

"Ze-eph!" he whined, turning towards the door to avoid the sight of her in pants and a bra. She stalked over to stand in front of him again, face mulish. She knew she was being a little over the top, but she had to use the bargaining tools she had at her disposal. If she’d looked down and seen what her stance was doing to her…assets…she might have reconsidered her tactics.

"If you don't relent, so help me—oh!"

She squeaked, startled, when he pushed her against the door, hands on her bare waist, his face an inch or two from hers.

"You'll what?" He grinned rather dangerously, and her heart rate, already a little quick since they were arguing, surged faster.

"I…I'll…S-Saeyoung, we have to…to focus…" Focusing was miles out of her reach at the moment.

"Don't worry, I'm _very_ focused," he said smoothly. And, much more easily than she would have thought possible, he bent a little, and lifted her with one hand beneath each leg, pinning her against the door.

And against _him_.

She gasped, wondering what had made her provoke him so shamelessly – but she hadn't meant to provoke _this_ , she just wanted him to agree that she…that she…

His lips silenced every thought in her head; how had her arms got around his neck, she didn't even remember…

When he pushed into her, hard, she whimpered into his mouth, and she felt his response as surely as if she'd flipped a switch. He'd been turned on before, but the surge of arousal she felt roll through him told her that if they didn't stop this very second all their plans would be out the proverbial window.

With inhuman strength of will (she later congratulated herself), she pulled away from his hungry lips.

"We have to…we have to go! _THE DEFENDER OF JUSTICE IS NEEDED_!" she insisted sternly, and though he grumbled and complained, he finally set her down.

"You're so _mean_ to me, uunnnggghhh," he groaned.

She rolled her eyes and went back into the bedroom to put on her sweater and boots.

He materialized in front of her, 3 bags on his arms, and shoved her own small bag into her hands. The location of Mint Eye’s lair was quite far, several hours' drive into the mountains, and they might not make it all the way back to the apartment tonight.

She blinked, holding her bag like a statue for several seconds. He was headed for the front door, but turned when he realized she hadn't followed.

"Eh, Zeph, I thought you were sooo eager to prove your skills by riding with me into battle, are you just gonna stand there?"

She looked up at him. "T-the party…" she murmured.

"Oh." He dropped the bags by the door and came back to her. "Agent 707 has made a drastic error," he mumbled, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I already told them in the chat that we might not be back…I didn't realized you—"

"No, no it's fine, it just sort of hit me."

"Maybe you should stay, you could go to Jumin’s, he has a ton of bodyguards, or—"

"No!" She straightened, and dropped her bag for a moment, then linked her arms around his neck. "My place is with you, Saeyoung." She kissed him to reiterate. "Besides, you're too reckless on your own."

" _I'm_ reckless! HA!" He pulled her back into the living room; she scooped up her bag as she went. "You're the one who just _opened_ the _door_ to an intruder, not having any idea who was outside!"

"That's what I'm saying – with two of us there they won't even know what hit them."

He cackled as they left the apartment. "These people are in serious trouble! The Dynamic God Duo springs into action!"

She slowed as they descended the stairs and began walking the few blocks to where his car was parked.

"Hey, gods have to walk faster than that, what are you doing?"

"I'm thinking."

"Well, think and walk."

"Yes sir," she chirped with a mock salute, and picked up her pace, but her mind was churning.

After several minutes of deliberation, selfishness won over altruism (and possible any regard for her wellbeing) and she decided to remain silent until it was too late to turn back.

When she saw the car, she felt her decision was validated.

A shiny, black – no, when the afternoon light hit the car she saw it was actually deepest sapphire blue – Ashten Mardon Vandage S.

"Ahh, by the look on your face I can see that you, at least, appreciate the beauty of my babies."

"S-stunning," she stuttered, mechanically handing him her bag to stow in the trunk.

He grinned foolishly and opened the passenger door for her with a grandiose flourish.

Wow. Now this…was a ride. Thank goodness they weren't relegated to driving her poor Hyandoi into the mountains…it was newish and in good condition but its little engine might not even make it.

"It….it has a stick shift," she marveled, well aware that 95% of these cars had paddle shifters at best…

"Yep yep, less efficient but more fun!" This boy knew the way right to her heart…

She'd always wished to drive a car like this – from time to time, when she'd let her imagination run away with her and thought about starting some sort of detective agency to help children, she thought about pulling up to bad guys' establishments in this car, getting out in some sort of absolutely ridiculous outfit including 6" heeled boots, and then kicking them all in the face.

She smiled a little at the fanciful ideas of her younger self, but she couldn't deny she still had a thing for these cars, even though she'd never be able to afford one herself.

When Saeyoung started the car, giving a contented hum that echoed the growl of the engine, her previous opinion was confirmed.

 _Definitely_ the right decision.

 He didn’t have much chance to show off amid the traffic in town, but she was looking forward to the likely grandstanding that would occur once they were out on the mountain roads. Keeping her hands off him might become more and more difficult…

Once they were about thirty minutes out of town, but still in the suburbs, she cleared her throat.

“Um…what about Vanderwood?”

He glanced sideways at her. “What does h--she have to do with anything…”

Zeph rolled her eyes. “Do you think it’s possible she’s tracking you?”

“Why would you think that my—”

“Will you give it a rest? I know she’s another agent, and I’m sure you’re in deep shit for going MIA over this whole thing, right?”

He blinked, and then seemed to relax, his eyes closing for a second. “Fine, but you missed one thing, Vanderwood's a he, I just call him my maid to piss him off. Although…he _is_ really handy at sweeping. And no, he can’t be tracking me, my phones are bug proof, and even so I’ve checked since I got to Rika's apartment and they’re all fine.”

“But…your car. Couldn’t he have put something on your car?"

His eyes grew wide with horror. "No. No way Vanderwood would touch one of my babies, he wouldn't dare!" Then he looked at her again, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "You thought of this before we left, didn’t you!"

She pursed her lips to contain a smile – she was about to get scolded, this wasn't the time to be grinning.

"Ohhh you are in so much trouble, Zeph! You're lucky I'm driving and we have to…damn, you planned it this way didn't you!"

She gave a delicate cough and kept her eyes on the road.

"Wow. I gotta say, I'm impressed, but I should have known I'd pick a girl with skills."

Her cheeks burned faintly at this praise, and she finally let her smile peek out.

"But if he was tracking me…he would have shown up before now. Even though the car was parked a bit away from the apartment, I can't believe I've been there for several days with no sign of him. So despite your determination to get us caught," he said sternly, "I think we can successfully complete our mission without him showing up."

"Well, I couldn't risk you saying we should rent something. I've been wanting to ride in one of your cars for over a week…"

"You have not!" She looked at him, sure he must be exaggerating his surprise, but his face – and the dusting of pink on his cheeks – told her he wasn’t.

"Of course I have! I had my eye on you, God-Seven," she purred, pulling out the strap of her seatbelt so she could turn sideways in the seat, legs tucked beneath her.

"Hey, hey now, don't go doing anything crazy, you'll get us both killed!" She rolled her eyes and confined her machinations to sliding one arm around him in a loose hug, careful not to impede his driving.

"Besides, it’s probably just because you…like cars. Or something."

"Idiot," she said playfully.

"Fair enough," he grumbled.


	5. Chapter 5

They'd been driving for two hours already; she'd logged into the messenger a couple of times to give updates to their friends. They were all surprisingly supportive about this mission, and about missing the party; they all wanted to help, and just urged them to be careful. Jaehee insisted she could take care of the rest of the preparations herself, and Zen would handle greeting the guests.

Saeyoung had put on some unexpectedly downtempo trance music – using the voice-activated entertainment system in the car, which Zeph appropriately cooed over. This boy had some serious technology. She guessed she was stupid to assume he'd listen to music that matched the persona of 707; and was a little disappointed at herself for even being surprised. She well knew he was a dynamic person with a lot of sides to his personality, even more sides than she had. And she didn't go around listening to Splashmouth and 80s music. Well…maybe occasionally.

"You can go to sleep if you get tired," he said quietly, turning down the radio. She looked up from her position leaning against his arm.

"Whatever, we haven't even gotten to the good parts of the road yet." She'd gotten at least some idea of his driving skill but now they were getting out into the country, where he could drive faster, and then the mountains with winding roads…

"The…what?"

She stared. "Can I ask you a…random and personal question?"

"Yes, if you must know, I _am_ in fact Emperor Ta—"

"Shut up! I'm serious!"

He looked askance at her. "I guess…"

"Have you ever actually driven a girl in this car before? Or any of your 'babies'?"

He looked taken aback. "Huh?"

"Will you just answer the question?"

"Uhh…Jaehee's been in in the Perrari I guess?"

"Hmm. Jaehee may not count. She's very practical, not to mention fixated."

"Fixated on wh—"

"No one else?"

He shrugged, his face red. "I guess not. I haven't had them that long…"

"I see."

"What is the point of this interrogation, Agent Zeph?"          

"I'll show you in approximately five minutes," she replied cryptically, and with a devilish smile.

The increase in speed limit as they hit more sparsely populated areas caught his attention and he seemed to relax a bit. "Ahh, thank god," he murmured, downshifting to pass a couple of sedans who were cruising at a leisurely pace in front of them.

Zeph's hand tightened on his arm…which she had over the past couple days come to notice was…a lot more substantial than she would have imagined. A nice surprise…

"Hmm…I'm calling you out," he crowed, keeping his eyes on the road as the scenery flashed by in a blur.

"Huh?"

"You said you wanted to drive in this car with me but now you're scared of the speed!" His voice was triumphant. "Don't worry, I can handle this car. I want to get there as fast as possible. But do you want me to slow down?"

"You’re extremely dumb sometimes, Saeyoung," she mumbled fondly.

"Hey! What now??"

She slid her hand up and around his neck, stretching across the console to press her lips below his ear. He visibly shivered.

"I'm not _scared_ , you absolute genius…" she whispered into his ear.

"O-oh…OH!"

Surely he wasn't _that_ innocent? Then again, brief interludes here and there with people he worked with or ran into 'on the job' so to speak – this was the relationship history she imagined of him - weren't the same as having a woman he cared about in the car with him, explaining, with her mouth, just how turned on she was by his driving skills.

"Pay attention, babe," she murmured as he slowed down a bit. "Remember, we have to get there fast…"

"J-j-just--hold on there…h-how am I supposed to…ahhhh!" He gave an exaggerated hiss when she pulled his earlobe between her teeth.

"This is fun! No more chasing me around the apartment, now you're at my mercy…" she giggled, then planted kisses down his jaw as her hand shifted from his neck to his chest, then down, finding the hem of his shirt and slipping underneath it.

"Y-you should…probably sit in your seat right, the road starts curving—"

"Even better." Gods _above_ she loved touching his skin, he was so warm and…definitely more muscular than she'd ever expected for a hacker. "Do you…work out or something?"

"W-what the…Jaehee asked me that too! What is with that, I don't look like Zen or something do I—AH!" He jerked a little when she squeezed his rib, and she laughed.

"Don't talk about Zen when I've got my hands on you," she ordered. "I don't wanna hear about him right now."

"Y-yes ma'am…"

"Actually…could I ask you a favor?"

"I guess I have to do what you tell me so you don't tickle me again…"

"True," she acknowledged. "Can I get this hoodie off you while you're driving?"

"What for?"

"It's about to get very hot in this car."

His eyes widened. "It's already hot enough," he mumbled, but got out of his sweater as requested. He just had a black t-shirt on underneath, and she immediately ran her hand up his forearm with almost unholy glee.

At that moment he downshifted as they came up behind a truck, and the road turned sharply to the right.

His muscles flexed beneath her hand as he deftly switched gears, slowing their progress gracefully rather than lurching like some might in this car.

She suddenly understood what all those nosebleeds in anime were about. She'd had no chance to ever be a passenger with such a skilled driver, but she knew from various movies she'd watched that it was…a _thing_ , for her. And now her assumption was confirmed. Emphatically.

Well it didn't help that she was wildly attracted to him in the first place. But still.

She needed to get control of herself. Aside from when he'd first arrived at the apartment, they'd only started kissing yesterday. They might have gotten hot and heavy once or twice but she shouldn't go from that to…what had just popped into her head, in such a short space of time. She needed to let him breathe.

Even though he seemed pretty content to have her by his side at all times, that didn't mean he wanted to launch head first into a physical relationship.

Then again, his behavior before they'd left earlier said otherwise…

_Dammit, hormones! Calm down, I can't think!_

He snorted, and she realized with horror…."Did I just…say that out loud…"

He nodded, manfully – and obviously just barely – refraining from cackling at her.

She immediately withdrew, slouching back into her seat with her hand over her eyes, face flaming.

"It's not a big deal, I talk to myself all the time," he assured her, a laugh still lurking in his voice.

"Shut up, I'm sure you don't say anything that embarrassing…"

"I sing fish songs to the goldfish bread while I'm eating it."

"Are they sad songs since they're about to die?"

"Usually."

"At least you're considerate." She glared resolutely out the window at the enveloping darkness speeding by.

He grabbed her hand and made a show of kissing it before he had to put his own back on the shifter.

She relented a little and loosely held his arm, but didn't turn back to him just yet – she had to let her blush die down a little more.

"So…I might be a genius but apparently I'm really dumb about some things," he said quietly after a few minutes, and his tone did make her turn.

He took a deep breath. "Zeph…I know I've done some…inappropriate stuff, maybe—"

"It wasn't, trust me, I—"

"I know, that's not what I meant. I didn't mean I had any problem with any of that, but…I just…"

He ran his other hand through his hair and glanced at her rather bashfully.

Seven? Bashful? But no, this was Saeyoung. While it was true that his punchy online persona would probably never be shy unless it was a joke, he was being sincere with her now.

"It's okay, whatever you want to say," she encouraged him. "I might be pushing it too, if you want me to slow down, I will…"

"I…ugh, I don't know! Will you come here? You're too far away."

Her heart squeezed uncomfortably; she laughed to cover it, but she wondered if he knew how much he affected her. She shifted in her seat, situating herself against his side again.

"Mm. Better." He was so silly, yet so adorable…so precious to her. Two weeks ago, she would never have believed that she could be submerged so deep in affection for someone in just ten days – it seemed impossible. Ridiculous.

But here she was, drowning in these emotions that she’d never even entertained a possibility of before. She'd been in a couple relationships before, briefly, but inevitably each of them realized how strange she was, on the inside, how damaged. And they backed away, carefully, like she was on fire and if they didn't get far enough they'd catch flame as well.

But Saeyoung…he already knew. It was perhaps because of her inner turmoil, her strange two-faced existence, that they were pulled toward one another.

Whatever the reason, she thanked god – not that she normally had much to do with him, but even if this was the only thing that ever went right in her life, it was enough. More than enough.

"Did I upset you?"

"Hmm? No, oh no. I just…" she sighed, unable to properly express what was roiling about in her head. In her chest. "So...what do you want?"

"Me?"

"You were going to say whether you wanted to slow down or…something."

He blinked, his expression one of confusion, surprise. "It's…been a long time since someone was concerned with what I want…"

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Yeah. I know what you mean."

"To answer your question…what I want, and what I think we should do are maybe two different things."

She nodded silently, all too in harmony with him on that point.

"But we'll figure it out, I'm not worried. Let's just get through tonight first – although it's hard to imagine, we have bigger concerns looming."

"I hope you don't think that I'm taking your brother's rescue lightly," she said, suddenly very serious. "I'm sorry if I seem like I’m ignoring the import of what we're doing, I didn't mean to, I—"

"Shush," he interrupted imperatively, and she did. "There's no point in sitting here worrying ourselves to death the entire way up there, believe me I had no desire to do that. So there's nothing to apologize for."

"Yes, God-Seven."

"You're a good disciple," he replied, his voice changing in pitch, and her lip trembled as she tried to maintain a straight face. "Since I'm feeling benevolent, I'll allow you to kiss me on the cheek."

She quickly lunged toward his face, showering his cheek, his jaw, and his forehead – one side of it – in loud smooches.

"Hey, hey! I said my CHEEK, bad disciple, you're going to make me run off the—mmmfff—" He broke off as she shifted her attention to his mouth, careful to only obscure one side of his face. Finally she sank back into her seat with a satisfied hum, laying her head on his shoulder once more.

"The absolute audacity…" he mumbled, shaking his head, and melodramatically pulled down the visor mirror to make sure she hadn't left lip marks on him – she wasn't even wearing lipstick. She rolled her eyes.

"Diva."

"You know, my maid also says I'm high maintenance. Speaking of which…" He pulled his phone out.

"Vanderwood, call Vanderwood," he said confusingly, and Zeph raised an eyebrow as the phone started auto-dialing. "Well I named my phone assistant after him, since he's basically my maid in real life—"

"SEVEN! I heard that!" Apparently Vanderwood had already picked up; Zeph stifled a giggle. For one, Vanderwood was most definitely a guy, and boy was he pissed. "Where the HELL are you? Do you know how much I've had to cover for your sorry ass?"

"I know, I know, I owe you forty thousand bags of Honey Buddha Chips—"

"I don't want your stupid chips! Agent 707, you had better get back here before Boss makes me—"

"Eh, eh, calm down there big guy, I called because I need your help. Zeph is gonna send you some satellite feeds, I need you to—"

"What in the seven realms of hell makes you think I'm gonna help you yet again? You are in so much trouble, it's only because of me that you're not dead already!"

"I'll let you have Ji-a."

"Even when you do come back I'm gonna—wait what?" Vanderwood paused mid-rant.

"You heard me."

"B-but…she's your…"

"Don't need her, I got a new baby." He glanced aside at Zeph when he said this, and she illogically felt the need to grab the door frame to steady herself.

Vanderwood made a noise of disgust, and then was silent for a moment. "What do you want." He sounded like the words were dragged out of him, and Zeph couldn't help but wonder what kind of car (since that much was obvious) Ji-a was. Maybe Saeyoung was being too hasty…then again, Zeph would probably give her own car to hear him call her his baby again.

He gave his associate some instructions for "Plan B", which Vanderwood seemed shocked had even made it into the discussion. "You're… _planning_? What is going on with you?" He almost sounded worried, beneath his irritated exterior.

"When's the last time you had a beautiful woman in a car with you, Madame?" This time he winked at her, and she put up her hands to cover her blush…like a damned 12 year old…

"Will you _stop_ —it's been a while, what does that have to—ah. You're an idiot, you're aware of that, yes?"

"So I've been told. That's three times today."

"You're the dumbest genius I have ever had the misfortune to meet."

"Hmm. So do you have the instructions down?"

"Ugh, yes. Fine. FINE, but you are _not_ reneging on our deal, you got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, the keys are in the lockbox by the door. But uhh…maybe wait till I get back, since if you input the wrong password I think the house gets filled with deadly gas."

"T-the _what_ —"

"I can't remember what happens, honestly, but…something bad. For you, I mean. See ya!"

" _SEV_ —" the line went dead, and Saeyoung tossed the phone back into the console, then pulled out an ultrathin Mockbook Aire, which he handed to Zeph. He gave her a rapid string of instructions on further encrypting the files he wanted to send to Vanderwood, and she felt a glow of pride that he had enough confidence in her to trust her to do it properly. Of course, she was no lightweight when it came to computers, coding, and even some hacking, but she was nowhere near on his level.

Once she was done, she stowed the computer back in the console, then sat for a moment with her fingers twisting in her lap.

She'd felt a surge of gratification and affection at what he'd said earlier, but the more she thought about it, the more she thought she should dissuade him from giving up one of his babies…she wasn't worth such a sacrifice.

"Saeyoung…"

"Why do you sound so sad? What did I do?" he demanded suspiciously, and she tried to laugh to ensure him everything was fine, but it…didn't come out quite right.

"Normally, would you…do something like this yourself? On your own? Or would Vanderwood come with you?"

He squinted at her for a minute, and then shrugged. "Depends. But usually I go alone, I guess."

"But…you don't normally have any kind of backup plan, do you?"

"Eh, waste of time, I always get out fine."

She bit her lip and looked away. She knew the real reason he did that – he didn't care. What did it really matter if he got killed in the field? He had no history, no real friends, no future, or so he thought.

"Hey…whatever you're thinking, it's probably right, considering how alike we are," he said, reaching over to touch her cheek. "But I'm being more careful now, okay? And not just because you're here."

She grabbed his hand for a second before he had to retrieve it due to the erratic nature of the road. "It's not?"

"You're too far away again."

This time she didn't even pretend to scoff – she just scooted over and wrapped both her arms around his, laying her head on his shoulder.

"It's because…I have more to lose."

For a moment she felt stupid – of course, his brother. Before, he didn't think Saeran was in any danger, thought he had a happy life, wherever he was. But now they were on their way to find out the truth, and if something happened to Saeyoung before their mission was finished, there was little chance they could help his brother at all.

"Good point. Your brother needs you."

"Why did I decide to get a regular shifter in this car…"

She leaned up, looking at him with confusion. "Huh?"

He made a noise of lament. "Ahh, it's so inconvenient!"

"I heartily disagree! It's…uhh…"

"Hmm? What was that, Zeph? It's what?"

"Shut up." Her face grew pink again. She wondered when she’d lost the ability to flirt – usually she had no problem being outrageous. Oh, right – probably when the target was someone she was pretty much head over heels for.

"So you're saying you don't want me to hold your hand or squeeze your knee or play with your hair while I'm driving?"

For a second she lost the capacity to breathe.

Then she coughed a little. "W-what?"

He grinned, and she punched him weakly on the arm. "Stop teasing!"

"You signed up for teasing. It's in the contract."

"Alright Jumin."

He sighed longingly. "If I was Jumin, I'd have Elizabeth the 3rd…"

"Look, let's not get distracted. The point is—"

"Ughhhh—to hell with this!" Saeyoung exclaimed suddenly, and before Zeph could even blink he'd whipped off the road onto a little used side road or driveway.

"What are you—mmm!" Her question broke off on a muffled cry as he practically lunged across the seat to kiss her, the second he had the car in park.

Her noise of surprise quickly turned to one of welcome, and in the awkward space of the car she did her best to embrace him, pull him closer. After a few seconds she pulled back just a little, to pull off his glasses and set them on the dash. Then she stared at his golden eyes intently, their breaths mingling as she slid one hand around his neck, laid the other against his chest, and leaned in again.

She kissed the corner of his mouth gently…opened her mouth just a little as she moved on to his lower lip, not using her tongue, not yet.

He seemed mesmerized, content to let her take the lead for a moment, though she could feel his heart hammering beneath her palm. Her mouth traced kisses over his chin, across his jaw, and when she reached his neck she let her lips hover over it, breath hot on his skin.

His own breathing was growing unsteady. She softly pressed her lips beneath his ear, and heard his sharp intake of breath.

Then she applied her tongue, at the same time that she sucked on his neck – not too hard, but hard enough.

He let out a cry, his hands digging into her back, and she couldn't restrain a little whimper of her own – no man's noise had ever turned her on half as much. The fact that his neck was so sensitive forcefully brought to her mind all the other places she'd like to explore…

She continued in this manner until she reached his collarbone, and then made her way back to his mouth, this time kissing him with more urgency, more need – she wanted them to go slow, didn't want to do anything at the wrong time, but she felt like she'd die if they couldn't soon go further.

He seemed to agree with her on a visceral level, but luckily this time it was he who had enough willpower to pull away. He leaned his forehead against her shoulder, panting, and she fared no better, but didn't try to renew the kiss; it was too damn hot in this car, and if things between them got any hotter they might never make it to their destination.

"I hate this car," he mumbled dolefully, and her laugh came out sounding breathless and almost inappropriate. His hands, now on her arms, tightened briefly, but he pushed away and flopped back into his seat. "Next I'm getting a station wagon."

"Maybe a truck. With a bench seat."

"Exactly." He put the car into drive again, and whipped around in the road to get back on the highway. "And Zeph…"

"Hmm?"

"Before…I wasn't just talking about my brother."

#  ***

They arrived at Mint Eye around midnight. They parked the car a quarter mile away, not wanting to alert the inhabitants of their approach. Before heading to the building, they logged in once more to the messenger.

"It feels weird saying stuff in the messenger while you're right there," he mumbled, seeming oddly self-conscious, as they sat in the dark car.

"Do you want me to log out?" She got ready to do so.

"No, uhh…can you just…on second thought, stay here. But first…" He turned to her and put one arm around her, the other holding out his phone. He kissed her cheek, and she blushed a little, but gave an only slightly silly smile. Somehow his phone managed to take a decent picture despite the dim interior lights of the car. "Ok, be right back." He got out of the car and shut the door, leaning against it. She raised an eyebrow, but turned her eyes back to her phone.

He complained for a second in the messenger about no one being logged in, but when he posted their picture she was kind of glad they weren't sitting next to one another. Seeing the picture in the chat room…the two of them together…it affected her just a little.

Then he told the others his real name – the one she now used – and for a second her stomach tensed with anxiety. It almost seemed like he was giving them a final address…telling them goodbye. Unable to contribute to his monologue, she looked out the window, a twinge of worry causing a crease between her eyebrows.

Would they be okay? She didn't worry so much for herself, but…then again, he was the one with experience at these things. She'd been a party to some breaking and entering over the years but never anything this serious, never anything that could get you killed. Or…captured.

Everything they'd seen about this Mint Eye screamed "cult". And she was even more concerned about the possibility of getting captured and brainwashed, than she was about getting injured.

But she'd just have to trust him to get them through this. She knew he could; he was the best.

Once they'd signed out, she got out of the car, and stood for a moment in the heavily wooded, grassy drive where they'd parked. She took a deep breath; she wasn't used to the countryside. It had been a long time since she'd been out of the city – she needed to do it more. For one brief moment she thought about the house she'd lived in when she was 9 – one place she'd been at least a little bit happy. A house in the country, with three cats, and just her mother's sister caring for her. She was quiet, a little awkward around a child, but nice. She'd had to leave there, like everywhere else, but at least it had been peaceful, for a year or so. The smell of the trees here reminded her of it.

Shaking off these out-of-place reminiscences, she watched Saeyoung surreptitiously as he packed the last of his gear and locked the car.

Remembering Saeran's face when he and Saeyoung had met…her heart hurt, and she hoped to god they could somehow solve this awful mystery and do something for Saeran.

She followed Saeyoung around the perimeter of the property, staying close behind him as he navigated a path that would keep them clear of any security cameras or sensors. The place was eerily quiet, although occasionally strange noises would waft across on the breeze, unnerving sounds that didn't seem quiet human…

What the hell was this place?

They knelt in the grass just inside the tree line, out of sight of the cameras that swooped back and forth, scanning the grounds. He took out his Mockbook; now it seemed they were close enough to hack into the building's wifi.

It took him some time, but finally he got in and through their firewalls. Then he withdrew a little splitter cable from his backpack, and plugged one of his phones into it as well as the computer. A little square box dangled off of the cable, and she watched with wide eyes as he swiped a white plastic card with a mag strip through it.

Man, he had a lot of toys she'd never even heard of…

When he was done he replaced everything in his bag, holding the card in his one hand, and took hers in the other.

They watched as a camera shifted back to the left, just as the one nearest to it shifted right, and they ran towards the door set in the wall between.

But when he swiped it the card in the reader next to the door…the light blinked red, and the door remained locked.

Zeph glanced up at the cameras. They'd reached the farthest point and were now turning back towards them, one a second or two ahead of the other.

He had to wait until the red light stopped flashing before swiping again.

No dice.

But while Zeph was barely refraining from bouncing in dismay, he seemed unconcerned. She tried to take a page from his book and took a deep breath to calm herself as he tried once more.

A green light, and the sound of a lock disengaging. As they slipped inside Zeph hoped the cameras didn't catch the door closing.

But no use worrying about that now – they were in.

She flipped the flashlight onto red-light mode, as he'd instructed; they'd be able to see but wouldn't immediately give away their position like this. They'd entered a dark hallway, no doors on either side, and though they could barely make out another corridor up ahead, it seemed that one was also unlit.

They slowly made their way to the intersection and turned right, Saeyoung monitoring their location against the layout of the building he had on his phone, where he'd marked the area that had the highest energy use. The server room.

They found it quickly enough, encountering no one on the way, a circumstance for which Zeph sent up a silent thank you.

The key card worked again, this time on the first try, and they entered a small room where several servers hummed against the right wall. Across from the door, a huge array of computer screens was set up on a desk. It was uncomfortably warm, even with air conditioning blowing in through vents overhead.

Zeph switched off the flashlight – the screens were giving off plenty of light to see, even though there were no other lights on. "Doesn’t seem like this room was meant for this," she whispered, looking around at the enclosed space and low ceiling.

"Yeah, this building is very new but they crammed all the servers in one little room with no exhaust. They'll eventually have a problem with heat…"

He spoke distractedly as he sat down at the computers, pulling the little Mockbook out of his backpack. He hooked it up to a black computer tower below the desk – one of three – and immediately began transferring files.

"I don't have time to decrypt this stuff now, and it's all locked up pretty tight, but I can break it later. I just need to have the files…"

She nodded, and stood facing the closed door, feet apart, arms crossed, ready to defend him if anyone came in. Now that they were in the dragon's lair, so to speak, she felt a little less confident about her ability to best anyone who walked through the door – who knew how many people lived or worked here, or what here even _was_ – but her determination was unaffected. Whoever tried to stop them had better have their affairs in order.

"Almost done," he whispered, "wow, some of these files have several encryption methods, this is really amazing…did Saeran do all this? I can't believe he learned so much…"

He looked over his shoulder. "Wait a minute, why are you standing like that! _I'm_ supposed to be the Defender of Justice, remember??"

"Yeah, and I'm the Defender of _you_."

"I would feel very threatened by that if it wasn't so hot."

She snorted, shaking her head. "Well I have to contribute something to this trip, otherwise I'm just one of those stupid females in the movies that cowers in the corner."

"You cowering anywhere is a joke."

She blushed, glad she was facing away. "T-thanks," she mumbled.

Of course, someone chose that moment, when her concentration was temporarily broken, to open the door. But it turned out her slightly delayed response was lucky, because she doubted Saeyoung would want her to beat up his brother yet again.

Recognizing that face – now that she saw it again, she noted even more features they shared – she stepped back, although she remained between the two men.

She knew Saeyoung would have heard the door, but didn't want to turn in case Saeran made a move past her. She hoped he didn't intend any harm to his brother, but…he was pretty unstable, so there was no telling.

"S-Saeran…" she heard Saeyoung's voice behind her, betraying the slightest tremor.

"I knew you would come here, but I thought I'd have more time. Impressive how fast you got in." His accent was a little different from Saeyoung's, but now that he was talking normally instead of practically screaming like he had been at the apartment…she could hear similarities in their voices.

It made her want to cry. Suddenly she felt awkward, intrusive, for being between them. She backed away, trusting Saeyoung would be able to handle his own brother.

"Ha! You think I won't hurt him, is that it? Hmm. We'll see."

She wanted to ask him – almost to beg him – to listen to his brother, just let him speak, but she kept her mouth shut. It wasn't her place; she hadn't known Saeyoung that long, and she didn't know Saeran at all. She had to let them work it out.

"Can we just talk, please? I have so many things I want to ask you—"

"I don't really have any desire to listen to what you have to say. Not after what you did."

"It's a misunderstanding, Saeran, I don't know what—"

"You don't know? YOU DON'T _KNOW_?" For a moment his voice grew dangerously loud, but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You used me. To get away. And I will never, ever forgive you. Everything bad that has happened to me is because of you."

Saeyoung flinched as if he'd been slapped, his eyes gleaming. "I…I thought…"

"You thought about yourself! That's what you've always thought of first! You never cared about me, all those times you said we'd get away together and you were always lying!" Now Saeran's voice rose in pitch and took on a slightly hysteric note. Zeph couldn't remain silent at such an accusation, especially when Saeyoung seemed unable to process a reply.

"He thought you were safe, Saeran! This whole time, he—"

"What do you know! You only met him because I tricked you into joining the stupid RFA! Just…just shut up! You have your own part to play, later!"

"I…what?"

"Leave her out of this, Saeran. It's between you and me." Saeyoung seemed to have gotten his composure back, at least a little.

"How can I leave her out! Haha!" Saeran have a strange, high-pitched little laugh. "I just said, she has a role in all this. She's part of the puzzle, aren't you… _Kyoh Min_?"


	6. Chapter 6

Zeph had never fainted in her life, but for one harrowing moment she came perilously close. She didn't breathe for several seconds, just stared at him as a strange smile spread over his face.

"How…" She couldn't help but throw a glance at Saeyoung, and Saeran laughed.

"You didn't tell him! Ha! Haha! You think you know her, _Luciel_ ," he hissed the name with distaste, "you told her your name, and you don't even know hers!"

She'd never even considered bringing that up…why would she? It was even further in the past than when he and his brother had parted ways. Much further. She stared at the floor, unable to look at either of them. It did seem hypocritical, now, not to have brought it up…

"I haven't told her every single secret I have, Saeran," he replied quietly, and the relief she felt that he wasn't immediately accusing her of lying nearly overwhelmed her. "I don't expect to know all of hers after a few days. So let's get back to—"

" _I don't want to hear it!_ " Saeran shouted. "You left me because it was easier if I wasn't there! I was the weak one, you had to get rid of me in order to be happy!"

"No! I only took this job because they told me you'd be safe, they'd keep you safe!"

"That's a lie!"

"It isn't, Saeran," Zeph finally managed to jump in again, shaking off her confusion about what Saeran had said to her. "Saeyoung, show him the pictures…"

Saeyoung quickly yanked his backpack toward him, grabbing the CD from the front pocket, and watched Saeran's face as he loaded it into one of the computers, and the images popped up.

"No…no, that's fake!"

"It's not. Rika sent this to me just a couple years ago. She promised me…" For a moment Saeyoung seemed to get lost in remembering.

"The Savior wouldn't lie to me!"

"The…what?" Zeph asked, wondering now who else was involved here. V was somehow connected, obviously, and Rika…

Her head snapped up. "Saeran… _who_ is the Savior?"

"Ahh! My head! I…can't…" Saeran clutched his hands to his temples, grimacing.

"Saeran! What's wrong??" Saeyoung took a step forward.

"No! No, get away, I can't…augh!" He turned and bolted out the door, pulling it shut behind him.

"Go after him!" Zeph urged. "I'll take care of this and catch up with you, just go!"

She ran to the computer where the downloads were just finishing up.

But the door didn't open.

"What are you—"

"It's locked." Saeyoung just stared at the door, not turning.

"What? He locked us in?!"

He nodded.

"Well, shit."

***

Saeyoung ran a hand through his hair, while Zeph leaned against the desk, suddenly feeling horribly awkward and confused.

She hadn’t used that name since she was a child. There was no reason for her to tell him that, but Saeran’s revelation made it seem she was being dishonest where Saeyoung had done the opposite. It wasn’t deliberate, but did that matter? And why did he know it? How was that possible? She had nothing to do with any of this…

Saeyoung sat down at the chair next to her and began trying to hack into the security system, this time from the inside. It seemed Saeran had jammed the door somehow, though – it wasn’t a simple fix to get it back open. In fact, even as Saeyoung worked it seemed Saeran was countering him, mucking up the entire system, making it a chore to navigate.

Zeph started to move across the room, out of his way, but he grabbed her wrist.

“Sit here,” he demanded, not looking away from the screen, but patting the table next him. “Talk to me.”

“I…I don’t want to interrupt—”

“Heyyy,” he whined, “I need your mojo, okay? Who knew he’d learn to hack so good…”

“Saeyoung,” she whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder as she sat. “I’m…I’m sorry he wouldn’t listen to you, I thought surely once he saw the pictures…”

“He’s not right. Someone did this to him, and I intend to find out who. Just as soon as I get you out of here.”

“But…what about Saeran? We can’t just leave him here, with this…savior…whoever they are, it seems they’re the one responsible for his condition, and his misconceptions.”

He nodded. “We’ll find him, don’t worry. And figure out more about this savior. But we need to get out of here as soon as possible; I don’t know if he told anyone we were here, but…”

“I don’t think he did. It seems you made him think about things at least enough not to want us dead.”

“I guess so.”

There was a minute of silence between them, broken only by the clacking of keys.

“Saeyoung, I didn’t lie to you on purpose.”

“I didn’t think you did.”

“Why? Why do you believe in me like that? I haven’t really given you much reason…”

“You told me your deepest darkest secret, remember?” His tone was flippant, but it was really the truth.

“Yeah, but…how do you know I don’t have forty more secrets where that one came from?”

“If you have forty I have forty thousand, Zeph,” he answered, his fingers pausing as he turned to look at her. “I’m the liar here, not you! I’m the one with the dark past, the hidden agenda, and yet you trust me, don’t you?”

She blinked at his sudden vehemence. “I…you’re not a _liar_ , Saeyoung, your job just keeps you from sharing anything with anyone, that’s not the same.”

His sigh seemed to ripple through him, and even though she knew he had to keep working to get them out of there, for a second she couldn’t help herself. She slid off the table to embrace him, cradling his head against her, her chest tense with the effort not to cry. Everything that he’d done, he’d done for his brother, and now he found that same brother was convinced he’d betrayed him. He’d gone through so much loneliness, just to have his efforts thrown back in his face. It was so unfair.

“I won’t let this go,” she whispered, eyes wet. “Whatever we have to do to find him, to show him the truth – I’m with you.”

He hugged her close for a moment, his breathing a little unsteady. “Thank you…angel Zeph.”

She scoffed as she released him, and he turned back to the computer. “Pff, more like fallen angel.”

He stared pointedly at her for a second, eyebrows raised. It took her a second to realize what his look was referring to.

“Excuse me!” she gasped in mock indignation. “Are you saying you’re the before and I’m the after?? That’s rude!”

“Ahhh don’t twist my words like that!”

“You didn’t even say any words!”

“If we get out of here maybe we can both be the after,” he retorted in a smooth voice, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. She just rolled her eyes.

“The rapidity with which you retreat behind your ridiculousness really amazes me.”

“I can’t help being talented.”

“I think sincerity just makes you feel awkward.”

“You got me.”

“Glad that’s settled. So…” She had to clear her throat, but she had to get it out. “I have to tell you, I guess, what he was talking about.”

“No you don’t. I haven't told you what happened to me, not all of it…”

“Well, I appreciate that, but I do, actually.”

He groaned and squinted at something on the screen. “Don’t tell me now! Tell me later. After we get out. I can’t pay enough attention, this code is too—augh!” He hunched even more determinedly over the keyboard and renewed his efforts – which were basically incomprehensible to her.

“Ok, but…is there anything else I can do to help?”

“Ah! I think I’ve got him…although it doesn’t help us right now…”

“What do you mean?”

He pointed to the screen. A little alarm clock widget was set for 45 minutes from now, ticking down.

“Uhh…what is that?”

“That’s how I’m getting us out of here – I went around the direct security for the doors, and set a timer to unlock all the key-card doors in the building. But I can’t get it to set for any time shorter than 45 minutes because it wants to run security protocols first.”

“Well at least you figured how to do it! But what do we do now?”

“Now…we wait.”

He pushed away from the desk, fanning himself. “God it’s hot in here…” He took off his hoodie and stuffed it in his backpack, along with the Mockbook.

“No kidding…looks like all these towers are liquid-cooled, but still…” Zeph also started to take off her sweater.

“He-ey!” Saeyoung exclaimed.

She stopped mid-motion. “What?”

“You can’t just…go…taking things off! What—”

“I have a shirt on underneath here, dummy.”

He cleared his throat. “Umm…but….what kind of shirt…”

She quickly whipped her sweater off the rest of the way, revealing a rather tight tank top underneath, but nothing scandalous.

“Hmm, okay, I guess I can survive this.”

She snorted and pulled him down onto the floor with her, against the wall by the door, where it was coolest. One of the vents blew directly on them, bringing some relief from the heat.

Saeran must spend a lot of time in here, and she didn’t envy him, tucked away, alone, in this hotbox of a room, apparently doing whatever his ‘savior’ told him…not a happy thought.

They sat, shoulders touching, hands loosely clasped, in silence for several minutes, both lost in their own thoughts.

Finally Zeph spoke. “My parents died when I was five. I…don’t really remember them.” His fingers tightened around hers a little, but he said nothing. “I said I lived with family members, but that’s…not strictly true. They told me they were uncles, aunts, cousins. But…” She took a deep breath as she thought back to those times; she never questioned it, when she was little. Not till she was much older. Surely real family members would have cared more for her? Been sincere in offering her a home?

“They were just…I don’t know who they were, honestly. But only one of them was a real relative.”

“How do you know?”

“She told me. She was the only one who was honest, at least to a point. My aunt, Mi-dae. She was real, she told me. I had no idea what she meant at the time, but then…then she sent me a letter, much later. It was…in code.”

“Your aunt sent you a coded letter? Why?”

“She knew Jihoon would probably confiscate it if he knew it was her. He read all my mail – what little I got.”

“That’s disgusting.”

She nodded. “So…Mi-dae was the third relative I stayed with. I was about 9 or 10, and I stayed with her for a year. She lived in a big house in the country – at least, to me it seemed huge. There were deer in the back field, sometimes. I used to wander through the woods, past the field, looking for fairy circles…”

She laid her head on his shoulder, feeling a little too emotional about a memory so old. “She was young – at the time all I considered was that she was an adult, but…she was probably around your age. She watched children in town, not far away. We would walk to town together, and get coffee sometimes, before I went to school. I felt so grown up. She always treated me like an adult, in the best way possible. She didn’t talk down to me or patronize me. And she…”

She had to stop for a moment, her chin trembling. “She loved me, I think. She talked about things we would do in the future, as I grew up….but one morning, in the spring, a man drove up that I’d never seen before. He and Mi-dae argued, but they were in the front room with the door closed, I couldn’t hear their words, just their tone of voice. She was angry, then pleading. No one ever begged to keep me with them – not before or since.” This time she couldn’t repress a tiny sob, and covered her face for a second. Saeyoung put his arm around her shoulder.

“I can relate, to some extent,” he whispered.

She pulled herself together, his presence giving her something to grab onto, to hold.

“He gave us a couple minutes to say goodbye. And she told me then – she’d contact me, somehow. She’d find me again, although it may take a long time. And she told me to remember that, even if no one else was, she was real. I didn’t know what she meant then, and I finally went along with the man – my new ‘uncle’…even that young I started to wonder how many siblings my parents must have had.

“There was another house after his, and then Jihoon’s, and you know what happened then. But a few months before I left Jihoon’s…I got a letter. It was just a short note, from my cousin supposedly, one I’d stayed with a few years before, and talked about stupid things – kittens, boy bands, school…and coffee. At first I was baffled, but when I saw the coffee…I knew. I knew it was her. And it took me days, but I decoded it. I stayed in the library at school for hours, trying different systems; it turned out it was coded twice…she was so smart.”

“I think you were smarter, decoding something so complicated at 15 years old…what did it say?”

“It was so strange…I still don’t understand it, although over the years I’ve tried to look for more clues...It reiterated that she was really my aunt, and said something about my mother…I still have it, maybe I can show it to you and you’ll magically make sense of it,” she laughed weakly.

“But anyway, that’s where the…the Kyoh Min came from. But I haven’t used that name since my parents died, my guardians just after then changed it legally to Zephyr Park.”

“Thanks for telling me,” he murmured, tracing patterns over her hand with his thumb.

She made a noise of affirmation.

“But it bothers me…that Saeran said you had a part to play," Saeyoung murmured pensively. "I mean I guess I just thought that he picked you because…you don’t have family that you see often, and you work from home so you could stay at the apartment, and…something just nags me about the way he said it.”

“You mean…like he picked me on purpose? Specifically me?” Saeyoung nodded. “Well, hopefully we can catch up with him and ask him, sooner rather than later.”

“I hope so.”

***

They spent the next thirty minutes playing a stupid game of guessing each other’s favorites, to ease the tension of the situation. She gaped at his insistence that Honey Buddha chips were better than fried chicken, and he threatened to disown her over her preference of Diet PhD Pepper.

Then they logged into the RFA chat room, checking in with the other members, who were up very late. It warmed Zeph's heart to see how supportive they were of Saeyoung; he was lucky to have such good friends. Both of them were, she guessed – they were her friends, now, as well. Unfortunately, there was still no word from V; even Jumin couldn't reach him, although he merely attributed it to V's travel schedule. She, Saeyoung, and Yoosung were not convinced.

He relayed their intent to drive to a safehouse that was relatively close, so he could decrypt the data he'd downloaded, and figure out what to do next. They couldn't head all the way back yet – they had to find Saeran somehow.

When they'd logged out, he squinted at the computer screen on the desk, and got up.

"Two minutes until the doors open. We have to take a left out of here, can't go back the way we came, the security cameras are picking up movement that way. We'll head out back, through a garden, and then cut right once we're well past it. Let's get ready – we'll need to book it out of here as fast as we can to avoid running into anyone."

She nodded, and got her sweater back on, then waited with one hand on the door.

She watched over her shoulder as the timer counted down…

He checked all the security feeds one more time, but Saeran couldn't be seen anywhere. Every once in a while a figure would walk down a hallway, but most were hooded.

And finally, the click of the lock disengaging. She threw the door open, and she and Saeyoung bolted the few yards to a back door, which was now also unlocked. They slid through it as quietly as possible, and found themselves in a walled garden – tinkling water was the only sound nearby, and roses climbed trellises all around.

If they hadn't been running for their lives, it might have been romantic.

Saeyoung looked at his phone, double checking the layout and where the back gate was located; he pulled her to the right, along the wall. But halfway along, they both stopped.

Voices, coming from the other side of the garden. Both of them ducked behind a trellis, barely daring to breathe.

And something was…strange, about them. A murmur, barely audible, but the confusion was clear. As the speaker approached, her words became distinguishable, barely.

"I remember this place…"

"Yes, my lady, the gardens." Her companion spoke flatly, almost without intonation.

"But…why am I here?"

"Because the Savior has need of you." Again, as if he was badly reciting lines from a play.

"Her…I…"

Zeph's eyes widened in shock and confusion. Her fingers dug into Saeyoung's arm.

He turned to look at her in concern.

She retained just enough sense to only breathe the word.

"Mi-dae!"

 

They had to run. There was no way to stay, find out what was going on, 'rescue' her aunt. They didn't even know why she was there. But two more guards came out to fetch the woman and her companion – they couldn't approach without risking getting caught, or worse.

Zeph resisted leaving for a moment, but then sagged against Saeyoung, knowing it was unfair to try to put them in danger for this, when he'd had to leave his own brother in this place as well.

She took a deep breath and followed him on a circuitous route through the flowers and shrubbery, trying to avoid full view of the windows in the back of the property, until finally they made the gate, and headed back into the woods.

Within a few minutes they were back at the car, panting, but with no signs of pursuit. It seemed impossible, but…apparently Saeran hadn't notified anyone of their presence. And where had he gone?

Zeph had caught a glimpse of her aunt before she was ushered back inside – still young, still beautiful, but with a streak of grey hair at her forehead that leant her an otherworldly quality. But there was no mistaking her.

She was unutterably confused, now. What could Mi-dae possibly be doing there? What did her family have to do with the Mint Eye? It made no sense – Zeph had just become aware of this place in the past week, how…

As Saeyoung tossed his backpack into the back seat, Zeph leaned against the car, all the air leaving her lungs forcefully, her stomach churning.

"Y-you were right…" she whispered. "They picked me on purpose…they picked me on purpose, why would they do that? What does this have to do with me?" She was becoming nearly hysterical, her breath coming in short gasps, and Saeyoung took her by the shoulders.

"We'll find out, Zeph, I promise! Listen to me!" He gave her a little shake, and her eyes managed to focus on his face. "Listen…" he said more gently. "We'll get more data, go back in, find her, okay? We just need a little time."

She nodded numbly, clenching her teeth together as a means of locking her emotions down, to prevent them from overflowing. When Saeyoung pulled her into a hug, she just stood there for a moment, and then finally sighed and returned his embrace.

"I'm okay, I just…the shock…"

"I can relate," he said drily, and she suddenly felt guilty.

"I'm sorry, you had an even worse shock when he came to the apartment and I barely even—"

"I didn't really let you, did I?"

She turned her face into his shoulder. "No," she mumbled. "Stupid."

"Mhmm. Luckily you're much smarter than me, and you're gonna let me support you and all that jazz, right?"

She nodded.

"Alright, here's something to take your mind off of it for a minute."

He pulled away…and handed her the keys to the Vandage.

"Y-you must be joking," she breathed, staring at him dumbfounded, her voice shaking a little.

"Heyyy don't tell me you're gonna make me drive all night??" he scolded, and she gave a little squeal and immediately bounced around to the other side of the car and got in.

She was very careful at first, not knowing the car, but as they headed back she gained confidence, and drove a little faster, a little more aggressively. She was still cautious, since it was dark, and the roads were winding, but she lost a little of her hesitancy. He was right – driving this car did take her mind off her stress, for now.

Saeyoung was notably silent about her driving for a solid half hour, but eventually he could no longer contain himself. "Will you stop??" he growled. "You're gonna give me a heart attack!"

"What!" she huffed. "I'm not being reckless!"

He sighed extravagantly. "I _suppose_ …that this is only fair…if this is what happens to you when I'm in the driver's seat…"

"Don't be ridiculous, you're an amazing driver, if I'm not very good it's just because I don't—"

She broke off when she saw he was rubbing the back of his neck, and his face was a little pink.

"You're…you're plenty good at it. Fine, I mean, no worries," he babbled.

"Just what is it that you have a problem with?" she asked suspiciously.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then away. "N-nothing, it's just great. Please, continue, uhh take a left up here." She squinted at the dark lane he'd directed her to turn down.

"It's the safehouse," he explained.

"Oh. Uhh. What…kind of 'safehouse' is it? I…didn't think to ask before…" She hoped her voice didn't betray her trepidation.

"Well it's kind of crappy honestly, just a cabin, but there's water and power, and good internet and defenses, so…"

She made a noncommittal noise, determined to reserve judgment until she saw their accommodations.

From the side road they turned left again, then right down a narrow track that she assumed was the driveway.

At the end of the lane there was indeed a tiny cabin, and the clearing in front of it was barely big enough to park the car.  Trees nestled around the little building closely, and the whole area was covered with pine needles.

Zeph found it utterly charming. Again, when she got out of the car, she had to stop for a minute to just…listen.

It was so quiet here, and yet…no, not really, the noises were just different. The breeze in the branches, gently shuffling leaves all around, the call of crickets and night birds…

She closed her eyes and smiled.

"You really like it out here, huh?" He kept his voice down, almost, it seemed, out of reverence for the night sounds.

She nodded, her smile fading as she thought of Mi-dae again, and followed him inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The possibly convoluted joke about 'fallen angel' is referring to the fact that his baptismal name is Luciel, which was Lucifer's "pre-fall" name, which makes him the 'before'...and then he's waggling his eyebrows because he's suggesting they'll both be "fallen", HONHONHON. Explaining jokes makes them less funny but while this clever repartee was quite clear to me I figured that might be because I'm the dumbass that wrote it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: NSFW in this chapter

It was indeed one room – a twin bed in one corner, a couple chairs and a table, a half-hearted kitchen setup, and a door beyond that must lead to the bathroom. Saeyoung switched on the lamp, and set his things down on the table, getting his various laptops and phones ready to get down to business. Zeph immediately called the bathroom, and took her bag in with her to shower. After being in the car all day, then in that hot room for a few hours, and then running back to the car, she was very much ready to be clean again.

When she got out, for one split second she considered leaving the bathroom in a towel, and then was ashamed of herself. She'd just seen her aunt for the first time in almost fifteen years. Saeyoung had just tried and failed to reach his brother, who was now MIA, and they had to work on getting him back, which included a shitload of work decrypting all those files. This was not the time to indulge her hormone demons.

She put on the leggings and t-shirt that were in her bag, and opened the door to disperse the steam as she brushed her hair. Swiping her hand across the blurred mirror, she looked at her distorted reflection for a moment.

It had been a long time since she'd gone this many days without a 'costume change' – a different hair color from the multitudes of temporary dyes she kept in her bathroom, a change of contacts, a switch to a radically different style of clothes or makeup. When she was at home alone for days at a time, sure, although sometimes even then she didn't want to look at her normal face too often, and ended up switching things up even though there was no one else to see it.

She got the feeling it would be quite a while before she bothered doing so again.

Saeyoung interrupted these musings when he crowded into the tiny bathroom behind her, and grabbed her around the waist.

"Are you…okay?"

She met his eyes in the  mirror. "Yeah. Shocked, confused, a little angry…but okay. And I know together we can find out what's going on here, and help them both."

"Right! The Amazing God Duo never fails!" He kissed her shoulder with a loud smack and a tight squeeze.

She rolled her eyes but couldn't repress a smile. She gave his cheek a pat as she vacated the bathroom with all her junk, allowing him his turn.

She signed into the messenger while he showered, letting the others know they'd reached a safe area, and would update them when there was any news. Yoosung in particular was disappointed that they wouldn't be able to attend the party tomorrow, but he understood that their search took precedence. Zeph thanked everyone profusely – again – for finishing preparations for the party without them; she felt bad that Jaehee now had this on her plate in addition to everything else, but hopefully there wouldn't be too much for her to do.

She got distracted from the chat when she heard Saeyoung humming some ridiculous song…for a moment her eyes glazed over and a stupid smile creased her face. She was glad he seemed optimistic, even after what had happened. At least they knew that Saeran – and her aunt – were, physically at least, okay, and although he'd run off and locked them in that room, Saeran hadn't told anyone of their presence, and he'd seemed to waver just a bit in the face of the evidence he'd seen that Saeyoung was telling the truth.

Zeph was signing out of the messenger when Saeyoung got out of the shower, his hair barely even towel dried – the degenerate – and began rummaging in the few cabinets.

"I don't suppose you want to eat some of the Honey Buddha chips in my trunk?" he asked hopefully with a glance over his shoulder.

"Ummm…." She gave him a sheepish grimace; chips were great, but not for dinner. She got up to see if she could help him find anything.

"I figured. Hmmm…" Finally he came up with some rice and a pack of curry, which he held up for her perusal with a smirk.

"Dining in style tonight – nothing but the best for my baby!"

She stared at him for a few seconds, her heart rolling around riotously.

"W-what?" he asked apprehensively, confused by the look on her face. "What did I do? Do you not like curr—"

He broke off when she practically tackled him. She was barely sensible enough to lay his glasses beside the sink when she pulled them off to get them out of her way. Curry and rice were discarded as he found a better use for his hands, sliding them under her shirt.

She sucked in a breath when she felt his hands on her bare back; before she could think too much about it, she reached down, and peeled out of her top, tossing it toward the table.

"Zeph—" he gasped against her lips which were now back on his.

"Shhh…" She didn't want to think about everything that was going on – for a few minutes, she just wanted to _feel_.

He turned them around, knocking things aside in the process, and she came up against the counter; in one swift motion he'd picked her up and set her on it, and stepped between her knees.

She was gratified to see that his need was just as strong as hers.

He slid one hand around her back again, the other sliding up her neck, to lay against her cheek; she leaned into it, then turned and kissed his palm.

But her sweetness only lasted a moment – every second made it more difficult to deny the yearning that had been growing inside her. Turning her eyes back to him, she pulled his hand forward, and kissed his wrist, allowing her tongue to brush against it.

He bit his lip, and desire for him flared even hotter, low in her belly, a tension from which she craved relief. She turned her head a little, holding his hand in place, her lips making their way to his palm, and then his thumb.

She turned her eyes back to his as she pulled his hand forward so he was cupping her chin…and pulled his thumb into her mouth.

A thrill rushed through her when he gasped, his eyes fluttering shut as she suckled gently, her tongue tracing circles around it.

"Z-zeph…" he breathed, eyes still closed. "I can't…think…I don't want to…"

She stopped, but ran her tongue the length of his thumb as she pulled it out of her mouth.

"You don't want to what? Do you want to stop?"

His eyes flew open, and with more urgency than she expected he used the hand at the small of her back to yank her forward, against him, and then both his arms were around her as he crushed her to him. His lips answered her better than any words he could have said. She wrapped her legs around him, and her whimper and his groan mingled in their mouths as his hard length pressed mercilessly between her legs, so hard she felt like it might leave a bruise.

She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him even closer, hands yanking at his shirt.

He pulled it off, and a noise of satisfaction escaped her as she ran her hands over him…all that lean muscle… _god_ she wanted him!

But a tendril of sanity tickled the back of her mind. There was too much going on, they had a lot of work to do, not to mention possibly a little sleep at some point…and was this really how she'd imagine their first time? In a little cabin, on an unfamiliar twin bed (if they even made it to the bed), with dusty sheets?

She hesitated, and he noticed. Pulled back just a little, both of them panting.

"We should…."

"Yeah," she agreed reluctantly. "But…"

It was true, she didn't want to go all the way, not right now. But maybe there was something else she could do…

"But?" She knew he agreed with her, but she could almost taste the hope in his voice, and she smiled a little wickedly.

She hopped off the counter, pushing him back. Pressed a kiss against his shoulder as she reached down…and undid the button on his pants.

He swallowed; her lips moved to his chest, and she could feel his heart hammering. "I…I thought we w-were…stopping," he whispered hesitantly.

"Not exactly…"

His heart gave a dangerous thud as she sank to her knees, and he realized what she intended to do.

"A-are you…are you sure you…"

Her mouth was on his hip now, her hand slowly pulling down his zipper. She looked up at him, lips curving again at his agitated state. "Yes," she breathed…and in one motion pulled his pants and boxer briefs down.

A soft moan fell from his lips as she wrapped her hand around him – bigger than she'd expected, but not too big. She felt her face grow hot; it wasn't as if she was terribly experienced, although she knew enough to please him, she assumed. She'd done this before, but never…for someone she was so hot for, herself. It was…different.

She ran her hand up and down his length, slowly, then a little faster; the heat of him, the sensation of his heartbeat strong beneath her fingers, almost overwhelmed her.  Instead of this being a chore, or even a favor solely for his benefit, she was eager.

His hand was stroking her head, but when she put her mouth on him his fingers tangled in her hair for a moment, a little cry escaping him.

She could taste him…heaven help her this made her want him even worse. But this was enough, for now – it would have to be. She lowered her mouth further; she didn't think all of him would fit, but enough to make him come, surely…

The thought of his heat in her mouth caused a hot pulse between her legs.

Her hand still stroking, she took more and more of him into her mouth, until her hand was almost in the way. His own hand stroked her cheek – he was so sweet, so loving, even in this situation…

Wanting to see the effect of her efforts, she glanced up at him, sliding her free hand behind his leg to steady herself, watching his face as she took a deep breath…

And pulled him into her mouth until he was touching her throat.

He gave a tortured moan, his hand tightening involuntarily in her hair again. She hummed with satisfaction at his response, then pulled back, gasping for a moment to get her breath back.

" _God_ , Zeph…I…"

She made an eager noise as she pulled him back into her mouth, in and out, now gripping the base of his shaft, squeezing in time with the movement of her mouth.

She could feel the pressure building, his pulse pounding beneath her hand; suddenly the hand tangled in her hair tried to pull her away – but she knew why, and made a noise of encouragement, sliding her mouth down all the way again—

He came, his whole body tensing as his heat spilled down her throat, his groan of pleasure fanning the fires of her lust to the nth degree. She swallowed, made a noise of intense gratification, and swallowed again.

He gasped, one hand going to the counter for support as he relaxed. Slowly she pulled back, closing her eyes, savoring the salty taste of him on her lips. She pulled his pants back into place, and stood, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"W-why are you the one grinning like an idiot," he mumbled, still catching his breath.

She giggled. "Mmm, because you're delicious, that's why."

He made a strangled noise, and yanked her against him. He looked down at her mouth, then back into her eyes, hesitantly…

Then he pressed his lips to hers, gently probing…and gave a little whimper when he tasted his warmth on her tongue.

_If he was going to keep doing things like that, they might end up in the bed after all…_

Plus he was still shirtless, and her hands ran up his back, gripping his firm muscles…

He pulled away when she dug her fingers in. "Zeph, we…we said we wouldn't…"

She gave a reluctant nod. "I'm glad you have some self-control where I don't," she mumbled sheepishly.

"Well it's a little easier for me, now, considering…"

"Mmm. Well, thanks all the same, my honey." The words slipped out, and she immediately cringed, feeling stupid – what kind of thing was that to call someone? He'd called her baby, but that was normal—

"Ahhhh, why do you have to be so cute??" He squeezed her, and she squeezed back, surprised.

"I…I thought I sounded stupid…"

"No no, you could call me your potato chip and you wouldn't sound stupid, but I'd rather be your honey. Honey is good."

She laughed a little self-consciously, but her heart clenched. She'd never felt this strongly about anyone, and sometimes she was afraid she might be dreaming and would wake back up in her lonely apartment by herself.

_Don't be a dream, Saeyoung…please…_

"Hey," he murmured, pulling back, lifting her chin. She'd done it again, hadn't she…said her thoughts out loud…

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise." He kissed her, so sweetly that her lashes were damp when he leaned away. "You're stuck with me, okay?"

She nodded, her chin not quite steady enough to smile, and tucked her head into his shoulder again. But after a minute she sighed. "I guess we should get to work."

" _You_ should get to sleep, _I_ should get to work," he corrected.

"Umm, I'm not sleeping if you're not sleeping. You need sleep too."

"You're so bossy!"

"I have to be, my boyfriend needs discipline."

"Ahhh you're doing it again! How am I supposed to concentrate??"

***  
  
Two hours later, Saeyoung let out a sigh and sat back in the uncomfortable chair at the cabin's one table.

"Well, I think I cracked it, but it's going to take a couple hours for the decryption to run through all these files, so I'd better get started on—"

"Sleeping?" Zeph asked pointedly from her perch on the bed.

"I was going to say—"

"Sleeping, got it," she interrupted again, getting up to grab his arm. She pulled him from his seat and forced him to the little bed.

"Hey, you can't order around the Defender of Justice like this, I object," he protested, his yawn rather weakening his statement. She ignored him and nudged him to scoot over so she could crawl in next to him.

Still grumbling half-heartedly, he put his arm around her and pulled her against him, sliding his arm underneath her head.

Both of them sighed with contentment, and almost immediately fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter introduces a new set of characters in the story; I will just put breaks in where it goes back and forth between the stories of one group and another, but if you think it'd be better to do them as separate chapters, let me know in the comments :)

There were intruders in the complex – no one told her (they never told her anything), but Mi-dae could tell from their demeanor, their furtive glances, their extra vigilance. Now that the slight high of the drug had worn off again, she was trying to meditate, counteract its effects. She'd gotten good at it, although the others must never guess that. Her weak, damaged façade was her only defense.

If she ever let it falter, they might give her a dangerous, even deadly dose of the drug, or maybe mix it with something else. If that happened she might tell them more than she intended; she could only resist so much. And she couldn't risk saying anything that could harm Zeph – she had to protect her at all costs.

But who would dare to infiltrate this place? It was full of fanatics, cult members, essentially, who would do anything for their "Savior". Including torture and kill people.

There was one 'Believer', though, that she'd seen watching her. She knew her looks were striking, now, with the white streak in her otherwise blue-black hair. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for someone to stare, now and then.

But the Believers never did so. They always looked down, away. They never met her eyes – or each other's. Except he did. Strange eyes he had too – at first she'd thought he held some position of power here, given the name of this cult: Mint Eye. And his eyes, and what little she'd seen of his hair, definitely fit the description. But she soon gathered that this was not the case.

She was good at reading body language; that was her talent. And she could tell, very quickly, that he was afraid of the others. Or if not afraid, very wary.

He wasn't one of them. That was the only explanation. But what was he doing here?

Mi-dae heard the key turning in the door to her chambers, and willed tears to form. She had a part to play, and she must play it convincingly, or her performance would be cut drastically short.

But just as they began to fall, and she prepared to scrunch her face into a grimace of depression and despair…she realized who it was.

It was him – the others would have thrown open the door and stalked into the room by now. But the door was opening very slowly.

Pretending to wipe her eyes, she got up and passed across the view range of the camera; since she hadn't presented any signs of trying to escape, after that first day, they'd allowed her a small amount of privacy. The camera faced toward the windows, just missing the door, and didn't have a view of the bed or the opposite corner where the table was.

Once out of its range – she knew pretty well, now, where that was – she slipped quickly to the door, pulled it open slightly, and reached a hand to yank him inside.

 

He gasped, but she put a hand to his lips as she closed the door quietly, holding her arm out so he wouldn't move out into the camera's view.

His hood fell back…good lord, what was such a beautiful man doing in this place? Well, that was a stupid question – there were several beautiful people here. Pretty on the outside, anyway. Their insides were as sharp as broken glass.

She held up one finger, and pointed up at the camera enclosure above their heads. He nodded – intensely perplexed at her manner, no doubt, but she was confident she'd acted correctly; he wasn't here to harm her. There were plenty of other people here for that purpose. And he wouldn't betray her secret – he had secrets of his own.

She glanced around and saw her shawl on the chair by the table. Standing on her toes (stars he was tall), she put her lips to his ear.

"When I block the camera, go to the bed," she whispered nearly silently. He nodded.

She walked slowly toward the table, her shoulders hunched a little, and reached a shaking hand toward the garment. Keeping her head down, she grabbed it in an apparently tortured grip, and as she walked back toward the door, close to the camera, she whipped it up as if to settle it over her head; the black garment floated down over her, and as it did the man darted past, stopping at the head of the bed. She gave an almost imperceptible nod as she pulled the shawl around her shoulders, clutching it tightly, her fingers curling in despair.

She shuffled back to the bed, and as soon as she got to the foot she cast off her half-crippled manner and walked up to him, now able to whisper a little more loudly, but not much.

"What are you doing here? Why would you risk coming in here when you don't know the layout of the cameras??"

He looked taken aback. "I…I had an excuse ready, if they found me…I didn't think they'd have a camera in your actual room…"

"You're not very good at cloak and dagger, are you." She crossed her arms, barely managing to keep a stern expression as she looked at him; he might be beautiful, but he was foolish. That could cost her her life, or worse, her free will. Both of them.

"N-no, I suppose I'm not, but I—"

"Look, I appreciate whatever you came here to do. But you have to know that if your cover or mine gets blown, we're in serious trouble."

"Wait, are you saying your identity here is a cover? That your name is not Kyoh Mi-dae?"

She sighed. "Not exactly a cover, no, but my state of mind definitely is. If they see me without it they'll feed me more of that…vile concoction, and I can only counter so much before I'll tell them things they can't know!"

His eyes were wide. "Why are you telling _me_? What if they planted me to try to get to you?"

"They obviously didn't."

"How can you tell?" Now he seemed a little more ready to assert himself.

"I can read you. I've seen you three times now, and that's more than enough for me to gauge your intentions."

"How so?"

"It's my _job_ , Mr.—wait what's your name?"

"So you don't know quite everything about me?" he replied with just the slightest tint of smugness to his words, and her eyes narrowed.

"I know you didn't come here as a 'Believer'. You're trying to find something out, and you have to remain under the radar in order to do so, just like me. You're going blind in your left eye. And you— _oh my god._ You're V!"

His face was a mask of shock at her guess, and she herself had to sit down on the bed for a moment, the wind practically knocked out of her.

It was _him_ , the one the Savior had mentioned – Mi-dae wasn't supposed to have heard any of that, but she did, because she listened, even when under the effects of that damn 'elixir'. The Mint Eye…it had been named after him. Not stated in so many words by the Savior, but she'd heard enough to infer.

This poor man…poor, stupid man! "Do you know what she'll do to you if she finds out? You can't be here, what in god's name possessed you!"

He just blinked stupidly for a moment, and then sank slowly to the ground, sitting on the floor next to the bed. "Did she…tell people about me? Is that how you know?"

"She mentioned you once when she thought I was incapacitated. She was speaking to Ray – I doubt she would talk about it to anyone else."

"Saeran…" V whispered, running a slender hand through his mint mane.

"You haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?"

"I came here to find out what she was doing, keep her from hurting anyone else. And yes, I'm well aware of what she'll do to me. She can feel free, if she'd just leave our friends out of it."

It was Mi-dae's turn to gape. "You're just going to…hand yourself over? Just like that?"

"If necessary."

"Don't be an idiot! She'll consume you, and then consume everyone else anyway!"

He visibly shivered. "No, I can convince her," he insisted half-heartedly.

"V, she's a sociopath! You can't just—" She sighed. It was none of her business. "Whatever, fine, do as you please. Throw your life away. But just know that once you're gone she'll probably go into a towering rage and do something horrible to everyone in this place. And your friends, whoever they are."

He looked away, unable to meet her eyes. He knew…he was well aware this was the most likely outcome. So why be so stupid?

It was plain. To her, at least. "You feel guilty. Why? What could you have done to her that's worse than the things she's done?"

"You can't have guessed that in a few minutes—"

"You _want_ her to ruin you. It's written all over your face." She decided to change the subject; whatever she said wasn't going to get through to him, not yet. "Listen to me – I want to stop her as much as you do, but I have to get more information. I can't leave yet."

He was clearly relieved she'd let the argument rest. "You asked why I'm here, but will you answer the same question?"

"I'm not sure why. That's what I'm trying to find out."

"How can you not be sure? Did she lure you here in secret or something?"

Mi-dae sighed and looked down, at her hands. Hands that had once been smooth, but were now scarred, literally and figuratively, with the things she'd done.

"She said she had my niece."

V raised his head to look at her, and the intensity of his gaze made her insides feel strange.

"Don't tell me," he whispered. "Is your niece's name…Zeph?"


	9. Chapter 9

Zeph jerked awake to banging on the cabin door. Before her eyes were even fully open, Saeyoung was out of the bed – even though he was on the side against the wall – had his taser gun in his hand, and was waiting in front of the door.

_God he's quick….aaaand yep, now I'm horny again._

"Heyyy, Seven! Open the door!" said an annoyed voice outside.

It was just Vanderwood.

Zeph jumped up too, although perhaps not quite as nimbly as Saeyoung had, and dodged into the bathroom with her bag; she didn't really relish the thought of meeting the other agent with no bra on and her hair all over the place.

She glared at Saeyoung before she closed the door, her eyes warning him not to say anything inappropriate; he just grinned at her as he turned the locks in the door.

As she quickly braided her hair over her shoulder – no way to leave it down, after she'd slept on it it was completely unmanageable – she could just hear the conversation outside.

"Look, I got the info you asked for, and you're still giving me that car when you get back!"

"I will, I will," Saeyoung reassured him.

"God, it took forever to get here, what—Seven. Were you… _sleeping_?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous! Special Agent Seven Zero Seven does not need sleep—"

"Ah. _Not_ sleeping, I get it."

"No! I was…working!"

"Uh huh. Seven, you uhhh…you have a hickey."

Zeph nearly snorted, slapping her hand over her mouth. Dear lord, she hadn't meant to give him a hickey!! That was an accident! Her face flamed a little as she pulled on a green boat-neck shirt with her jeans. Great first impression for her to make on Vanderwood, she probably seemed like such a floosy…

"No way! She didn't even—ahem. I mean, that's impossible," Saeyoung lied, badly.

"Ehhh, you're really bad at this, Seven, but now I know what's actually been going on here."

"AGH! Are you saying I _don't_ have one?"

Vanderwood snickered, and Zeph was now bent over in the bathroom trying not to laugh. She couldn't contain herself anymore, and opened the door.

"How did you even _get_ this job??" she demanded, holding her stomach.

" _Rude_! I happen to be one of the best agents—"

"But clearly can't tell a lie about a girl to save your life," Vanderwood drawled, and then nodded at her. "Zeph, I presume?"

She stuck her hand out; he raised an eyebrow, his eyes traveling over her, but shook it nicely enough.

Boy, this guy was something…that hair, that jacket…she wondered what his specialty was within the agency. Infiltrating fancy clubs?

"Hey, stop looking at Vanderwood! That's my maid, remember??"

"Dammit, Seven!"

"Eh, pretty but not my type," Zeph shrugged. "Nice suit, though."

That calmed Vanderwood down a little. "Thank you, it's Ermani."

How the hell did this fancy boy – with his designer clothes and his surely-a-salon-blowout hair – ever coexist in the same universe as her boyfriend, who ate Honey Buddha chips and PhD Pepper as his sole sustenance for days at a time?

Poor guy.

Vanderwood handed pulled a tablet from his bag, and started showing Saeyoung some images. "So I looked for what you asked about, and sure enough, there she is."

Zeph's ears perked up.

"Look at image 2830 to 2892 from the satellite stills – there in the garden. And there she is again, starting on 5889. She's always got guards, but I can't tell if that's because she's being protected, or being held captive. So who the hell is this mystery woman?"

Saeyoung glanced at her for confirmation that he could reveal her identity to Vanderwood, but Zeph couldn't speak for a moment. After everything that had happened…he'd set Vanderwood checking on her aunt? Not on Saeran's whereabouts?

If they'd been alone, she would've kissed him. Instead, she gave a nod, and surreptitiously wiped her eyes.

"It's Zeph's aunt. Kyoh Mi-dae."

Vanderwood nearly dropped his tablet.

"Kyoh Mi-dae!" he breathed, almost reverently. What the hell? "I thought she was dead!"

Zeph's eyes snapped to his. "You know her?"

"No, knew _of_ her. She was one of the greatest agents ever to work for our agency."

# ***

"How could you know her?" Mi-dae breathed, eyes wide. "The savior said she was okay, staying somewhere else – is she held captive like I am?"

Realizing that she'd grabbed V's robe in her distress, she carefully relaxed her hands, but didn't lower her gaze.

"No, no I think she's fine. I haven't been able to talk to her in some time, they did something to the network here so I can't use the—" he broke off when she put a hand on his wrist, her head cocked as she listened to a noise in the hallway.

"Quick! Get on the other side of the bed, on the floor, I'll cover you with the quilt!" she hissed, hearing the familiar footstep of Believer 549 in the hall.

V didn't hesitate, hopping across the bed and laying in the floor between the bed and the windows. She quickly threw the coverlet over him, draping it so it looked like she'd pulled it off in distress, and sat on the end of the bed with one corner of it clutched in her hands. She began rocking back and forth as the door opened.

"Miss Mi-Dae," the Believer said flatly, setting a tray with food and tea on the table. "I've brought your midday meal."

"Go away!" she shouted, her voice hoarse. "Go, go go go –"

"Do you need some elixir, Miss Mi-Dae?" She cringed at the lifelessness of his tone, but luckily that was perfectly in character.

"No! Yes…maybe…no, no just go away!" She gave a low wail and squeezed out a few tears; Believer 549 sketched a brief bow and left, closing the door behind him and locking it from outside, as always.

Quickly she tossed aside the coverlet and offered V a hand to his feet.

His bemusement with her act was partially gratifying, and partially embarrassing.

"You're really amazing at that," he said quietly, still wary of their voices registering on the camera. He looked away for a moment. "Hyun would have been so impressed…"

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"So tell me – what does Zeph have to do with this? Since I've gotten here, they've asked me all sorts of questions – mostly Ray and the Savior. But though she seems slightly familiar to me, I don't know any of them, and I can't figure out what they want with me, or with Zeph!"

"I don't know either – you know why I'm here, but this is the first I've heard of Zeph having anything to do with Mint Eye. I'm as shocked as you are."

"But how do you know her?"

He sighed. "Ri—that is, the Savior seems to have organized her addition to a fundraising group that we both started years ago, the RFA. She just mysteriously joined a couple weeks ago. That was when I decided to try and infiltrate this place and see what I could find out, but until then I hadn't seen…the Savior for over a year."

Mi-dae stared at him. Over a year they'd been apart, with that woman doing all sorts of heinous things, not to mention injuring him…and he was still ready to give her his life.

She wasn't sure whether to feel pity or disgust. She refused to think about the brief pressure in her heart that told her the pity wasn't just for him.

"Zeph…have you seen her? Does she seem okay?"

"I haven't, not in person. But I've talked to her on the phone a few times, and in a messenger, and I didn't notice anything odd about her. Other than the fact that she seems to share a sense of humor with Luciel…" He actually chuckled, and for a moment Mi-dae's heart stopped.

It was a good thing the look on his face was habitually sad, or she might be in trouble.

She cleared her throat. "Listen, I think together we can get somewhere with this, but…I don't think you can get assigned to me, since you're supposed to be in the intelligence unit…and it would be too dangerous anyway, because lucky me, I get to talk to That Woman on a fairly regular basis, so—"

"Why does she want to talk to you so much? She lured you here with your niece but what has she even tried to get from you?"

Mi-dae chewed her lip for a moment. "I don't know. And I hate that I don't know. She's asked me about my family several times, and obviously she knows a lot more than a regular person would, considering she knows about Zeph. But she seems convinced I know something about her mother, for some reason. Says her mother and mine must have known each other. But I would have no idea. My sister and I – Zeph's mother – were taken from our mother when I was a small child. I know very little about her."

She fiddled with the shawl that was still draped over her shoulders, staring off at nothing.

"I can't _read_ her. And it troubles me…I've almost never had that problem. Even other…people I used to work with, they had tells, they had tics. But with her…everything is so imbalanced, all the time, I can't get a good analysis…"

"I can see where that would be the case."

"Yes, and all the skills I've ever honed – the ones I initially assumed would get me the answers I wanted and get me, and Zeph, out of this place – are turning out to be useless."

"I could try to get you out, but I—"

"I'm not asking for a knight in shining armor, V," she interrupted hastily. "I can get myself out. But like I said – I have to find out what's going on first. If what you say is true, and Rika orchestrated Zeph's meeting with you and this RFA group – and if the Savior told the truth, and Zeph is being watched by Mint Eye – then her life could be in danger too. And I have to know why, so I can protect her."

She took a step closer to him, and laid a hand on his arm. A friendly reassurance, nothing more. "You should worry more about yourself. I have…skills that I can put to use if necessary. I doubt you can say the same. Watch yourself, be careful."

He stared at her, a plainly quizzical look on his face. "As you say, Mi-dae."

She glanced at the clock. It was just after midday.

"V…did you have some sort of plan as to how you would get out of here, once you talked to me?"

He linked his hands together for a moment nervously, and she cocked her head, staring at them. He worked with his hands somehow – building things? No, no callouses to speak of…an artist perhaps?

 _Jesus_. "You're…you're V the photographer!"

# ***

Zeph practically collapsed on the bed. An agent…Aunt Mi-dae? It seemed so impossible, she took care of children for a living, or had at that time….

Then again, she was very young then. Only about 20. That was almost fifteen years ago. Anything could have happened since then.

"H-how..." she began, but her voice was hoarse. She got up to get a glass of water, and when Saeyoung held his arm out to her, she went to him without hesitation. There had been way too many revelations lately.

"She was an agent? She worked for Boss?" he asked Vanderwood, and she could hear the shock in his own voice.

"Yeah, she had this sort of…gift for reading people's faces. I mean she had all the other required skills of an agent as well – acting, physical aptitude, all that – but her talent with interpreting people's body language and expressions was almost some form of dark magic."

Zeph cocked her head at Vanderwood, sure she sensed some undertone of…hero worship?

"Back then she was just called Nine – the reason she left the agency, actually, was because that absolute jackass, Browning, leaked her true name in order to get her out of his way to becoming Boss's right hand. He did it at a strategic point in a mission, and he thought she'd die as a result, but she didn't. She went off the grid instead. He's probably lucky he died on his next mission, I'm sure Nine would have done some awful things to him once she got to him otherwise…"

Zeph blinked. Her…her aunt? Her sweet, calm, slightly awkward aunt, doing horrible things to someone in revenge?

Acting, Vanderwood had said…was she merely playing a part back then too?

Had their whole relationship been a lie?

"I…I need a minute," she whispered, and went to the door. But they'd re-engaged all the locks, and as she tried to unlock them, her hands shook.

Saeyoung appeared beside her and quickly did it for her. "Do you want me to come with you?"

She shook her head.

"Don't go past the distance of the car – there's alarms that might go off outside that perimeter."

She nodded numbly and walked past him into the grey morning light.

She walked around the cabin, staying close, until she got to the back, where trees grew very close. It wasn't yet midday, and was a little chilly in the shade, but she didn't notice. She sank down against a tall tree, facing the woods, and closed her eyes.   


_"Yes, just close your eyes, and breathe in, then out, then in…"_

_"Is this how you keep from getting angry at Mr. Kwan?"_

_Mi-dae chuckled. "Well, this is more useful after the fact, but yes, it helps. Now shhh."_

_They sat in the woods, afternoon sunlight bathing their faces in shifting patterns. It almost distracted Zeph, shining through the leaves to illuminate her face in patches._

_Birds trilled overhead, and a breeze tickled her cheeks, rustling branches against one another._

_"How can you concentrate on nothing when there's so much happiness in the air," Zeph asked, smiling._

_Mi-dae was silent for a minute; then Zeph squeaked when her aunt leaned over and hugged her tight._

_"I love you, Zephyr," she whispered. "This happiness in the air comes from_ you _."_

_Zeph giggled and hugged her aunt's arm. "You're silly."_

_Mi-dae kissed her cheek and then released her. "Okay, let's try again – breath in…"_  
  


Zeph wiped tears from her eyes…too bad she couldn't use that old meditation tactic now. She'd tried to keep it up, at first, after she left Mi-dae's, but in the city, there was nowhere that was silent. And after she'd left, she'd never really felt happiness in the air like that again.

Suddenly she thought of Saeyoung. Maybe he could be that for her – that breeze on her cheek, that birdsong.

She closed her eyes again, and breathed in, and out…in, and out.

 

Twenty minutes later, she strode purposefully back into the cabin. "Alright. What's the plan."

# ***

"How are you guessing all these things?" he breathed in surprise.

She began pacing again. "And that means that the Savior….the Savior is Rika Kim. Interesting. This helps me….except now I have no access to resources—"

"How does that help anything?" he broke in, sounding a little perturbed.

"It helps me because now I have a way to get under her skin. A card to play if I need it. V!" She turned to him urgently, piercing him with a purposeful gaze. "Tell me about her. Her family, where's she's from, how old is she? I could look all this up faster than you could explain it but I don't have that option right now…"

He seemed too stunned to speak for a moment, but then he cleared his throat. "Uhh…actually I don't really know. I didn't know her parents very well at all – she refused to speak of them. And besides that, they weren't even her birth parents; she was adopted."

Mi-dae made a noise of frustration. "It's like she erased her past ahead of time so I couldn't use it against her!"

"I don't think—"

"I know, I know, I'm just…annoyed. Hmm. So her true provenance is a mystery; but that's a piece of information in and of itself…"

"Provenance? She's a person, not a historical art piece."

Mi-dae's heart twitched again at his defense of a woman who'd physically and emotionally wrecked him, and her nostrils flared in irritation at herself. "She's an asset, is what she is to me," she retorted more sharply than she'd intended. V looked away. Mission accomplished.

"Alright, if that's all you can give me, I'll make do. We need to get you out of here before they come back, though."

He nodded. "I…had intended to just wait until the hallway was clear before slipping out, but…you seem much more talented at subterfuge, so I will bow to your superior training."

She winced as if he'd struck her, but turned away quickly so he didn't see. "Indeed. I can't play that trick with the shawl again, so we'll have to try something else."

The first thing that came to mind probably wouldn't work; she wasn't about to kill any of these people, even though they'd been a party to her entrapment and subsequently giving her that vile concoction. But they clearly weren't in their right minds. And she couldn't just knock them out, as easy as that would be – that would cause an absolute riot in the complex once it was discovered.

She continued pacing as she thought, but after a minute she glanced aside at V and noticed that her movements were making him anxious.

"Sorry, it's a bad habit," she mumbled, then sat on the bed and drew her knees up.

"I…it's not that," he mumbled, twisting his hands together again. "I'm…I'm sorry. I'm very sorry for putting you in this position. If I'd never come here, I—"

"No, you did right to come here, look at how much more information we have when we combined our knowledge," she reassured him. "It's fine, I just have to think, since I can't incapacitate anyone without alerting the whole damn place…"

He turned to look at her, eyebrows raised. "So you're saying…you _could_ incapacitate them, if you had to?"

"Oh, easily – almost none of them are combat trained," she waved off his concern.

"I see." This time his voice was unreadable, and she squinted in suspicion, but didn't push it.

"The problem is, although I know the arc of the camera, since it's in that mirrored box I can't tell when it's turning. So we could certainly get you to the door while the camera is facing the other side of the room, but I don't know when that is. I've been able to conduct little experiments to figure out its field of vision, but I haven't  had enough time to determine its exact schedule—"

"You're…scarily good at this. What did you say you used to do for a living?"

"N-nothing, it's…I can't tell you."

"I see," he said again, but this time his voice held a note of humor.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I was an agent. Speaking of which, if you could refrain from telling anyone my name, that would be supreme, since that was why I had to leave the agency."

"I wouldn't dream of speaking it to anyone, but what happened?"

"Someone outed me. Another agent…dug up information on me, and disseminated my name, my real name, to the entire agency." Her hands clenched into fists for a moment. Ka Daeshim, code name Browning…she would have killed him, if she'd gotten to him first. But she'd found out later that he'd died on a mission. Supposedly – she wouldn't put it past him to have faked his own death to escape her. His leak had been intended to end with her death, and when she'd gone off the grid instead, she liked to think he'd pissed himself.

But that was a line of thought for another time. Now she had to figure out how to get V out of here safely.


	10. Chapter 10

The files were only 2 percent decrypted after almost half a day of the programs running – it would take some time to get through them all.

But what they'd found so far was astonishing. And disturbing.

It appeared there were 'recruiters' for Mint Eye all over the country, bringing in 'Believers' on a fairly regular basis. While the complex they'd entered was recently built and seemed rather empty…if things continued as they were, soon it would be full of what were basically cultists.

And the 'Savior'…Zeph had her own suspicions about who that was, and she was sure Saeyoung agreed, but neither of them was ready to say it out loud.

Such a revelation would shatter their friends. The RFA gala was about to start – three members short – and this wasn't the time to bring it up anyway. They should wait until they had more evidence – Yoosung and Jumin, in particular, would need to see facts, although for different reasons.

There was no way that Yoosung would believe outright that his favorite cousin, his mentor practically, was capable of the things Mint Eye had overseen.

And Jumin, while he wouldn’t doubt Zeph and Saeyoung's word, would want to see proof to satisfy his analytical nature.

Zeph had checked in a few times with Jaehee, who let them know everything was in place, and Zen had already arrived and was looking monumentally beautiful for the occasion. Zeph smiled…she hoped there would come a day when the two of them could be as happy as she and Saeyoung were; maybe she could help them out once this mess was done with and they could all actually hang out like normal humans.

Zeph had pored over the satellite images on Vanderwood's tablet; was still doing so when she heard a pop and a hiss behind her, and then a cold can of Diet PhD Pepper was set on the table next to her.

Her eyes widened, and she glanced up to find Vanderwood opening his own can.

"BLESSED IS GOD VANDERWOOD," she intoned, holding up the can to him for a toast.

"Listen, we're supposed to be the God DUO, Zeph, not Trio, Madame Vanderwood isn't invited!" Saeyoung scowled at her from across the table.

"Sorry Seven, if he's gonna bring me ambrosia he's automatically in, I don't make the rules."

Vanderwood smiled smugly and looked over her shoulder. "Find anything of use yet? I have to say I'm glad you're taking over temporarily, I felt like my eyeballs were going to fall out."

She shook her head. "So far I'm up to about eleven days ago, and I've seen no further sign of her, or of Saeran for that matter—wait." She paused in clicking through the images, and squinted.

"Vanderwood…did you see where they were parking?" she asked pensively as she panned to the top edge of the frame and zoomed in. "When people came and went from the compound?"

"They seemed to be driving off the north edge out of range – the trajectory of the satellite images cuts out that part of the property unfortunately."

"Look at this. I don't think they were driving out of range…I think they were going _underground_."

Vanderwood took the tablet from her and stared at the corner she pointed at. ""You think that's a—"

She stood next to him and swiped across, showing the next image. The car in the first image, in front of a dark spot beneath the trees, was completely gone, and so was the dark spot.

"Shit," he breathed. "Hey you're pretty good at this – do you want a job?"

"VANDERWOOD!" Saeyoung had heard this last comment, and looked up to see Vanderwood and Zeph's heads together over the tablet, and was not pleased. Zeph assumed his jealousy was feigned, but probably not his dislike of the idea of her becoming an agent.

"Thanks," she said drily, ignoring Saeyoung, "but I wouldn't even consider it. My parents…"

"Wait, your aunt was Mi-dae, are you saying your parents also—"

"I'm pretty sure. But they died when I was little."

"Ah. Sorry, then. But clearly it _is_ in your blood…"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"Don't even start, I'm serious," Saeyoung reiterated. "I don't want her getting caught up in this bullshit."

Vanderwood held his free hand up, and gave the tablet back to Zeph. "Alright, alright, understood. Back to the matter at hand, then, what is your plan? We can't all stay here tonight, as enjoyable as that would be—" he directed an exaggerated waggle of his eyebrows toward Zeph, and she rolled her eyes— "And I don't think we'll have enough decrypted to actually make any moves on that place for a few days, so…"

"Well the first thing I'm gonna do is punch you in the mouth if you don't stop ogling my girlfriend," Saeyoung said without taking his eyes off his computer, and Zeph nearly spit out her soda. "But after that's done with, I was thinking we'd go to Safehouse Number 14 – it's not that far and has better facilities than here, more space, and we don't have to worry about any of those cultists tracking us."

Vanderwood stood there with his mouth open for a few seconds, but finally closed it with a snap. "Uhh…y-yeah that seems like a good plan. Seven, listen, I'm just kidding around, you know I wouldn't—"

" _Do_ I?"

"Well, no, it’s not like there's any way for you to know that I wouldn't. But _she_ wouldn't, that much is patently obvious."

"I'm well aware of that."

"I'm sitting right here…" Zeph chimed in. She would never have pegged Saeyoung as the jealous type, but it wasn't like she knew every facet of his personality yet…and she didn't _mind_ , exactly…

"Sorry," Saeyoung apologized immediately, getting up and walking around the table to stand next to her. "But I've seen him in action, and I don't want him getting all…slimy with my baby."

"In action, huh? You can explain that to me in a second. But first…" she stood and wound her arms around his neck. "Vanderwood, please take note," she instructed, not looking at the other agent. Then she kissed Saeyoung, a long, slow, deep kiss that immediately transported her to some other place where they were alone…just the two of them, the whole universe to themselves….

"Oh come on! That's just cruel!" Vanderwood's annoyed voice broke the bubble of her imagination, and she pulled back, and put her forehead to Saeyoung's.

"You get what I mean, Vanderwood?"

"Yeah, yeah I get it, god you don't have to rub it in quite that hard! Ugh…"

"I guess I get it too," Saeyoung added softly.

She grinned, gave him a last kiss on the cheek, and sat back down in her chair.

"You owe me, though, Vanderwood," she muttered as she zoomed back in on one of the images. "I probably prevented you from getting assaulted."

# ***

“Are you sure this is going to work? I mean – I don’t doubt the wisdom of your plan, but it seems they might try to…discipline you or something.” Those sad eyes, so full of concern…she had to look away.

“The worst they’ll do is give me more of that damned elixir.”

“I meant to ask you – didn’t they just give it to you earlier? How are you so lucid?”

“Another useful skill,” she said tersely; she’d already told him more about herself than she ought – she didn’t need to give him any more details.

“I see. But there must be a limit to how much of it you can endure…”

“There is, but so far I haven’t reached it, and I hope to god it stays that way.”

“As do I. Very well, I will do as you have bid.”

She cocked her head at him. “You’re very trusting. Considering we’ve just met.”

“I could say the same of you,” he answered immediately. “Not to mention your previous occupation…”

“I told you—”

“Yes, I know, you can read people.” His voice lowered to the mere breath of a whisper. “So what do you read about me?”

For a moment, Mi-dae couldn’t look away. Several moments, in fact.

_You would think those odd-colored eyes would make him look bright, but they don’t. They just highlight his sadness. His guilt. His shame._

“So much regret,” she murmured involuntarily. “It’s all so heavy…”

He sucked in a breath, and this time it was he who dragged his eyes away from hers. “It is. But I should not have asked. Come – I should not remain here any longer, it puts you in further danger. Let us put your plan into action.”

“V, listen to me,” she insisted, pulling on the sleeve of his voluminous Mint Eye cloak. He turned to regard her curiously. “Don’t put me on the list of things that weigh on your mind. I’m fine – care for yourself. Remember, I can get out of here at any time.”

He smiled – soft, hesitant, as if he’d forgotten how. She almost wished she’d remained silent; if she’d thought him attractive before, that smile made him unbearably so, even if it was broken at the edges.

“Thank you, Mi-dae. You have no idea how relieved I am about that.”

“I—yes. Well. Let’s go.”

She hurried to guide him to just outside the circle of the camera, then put a finger to her lips. When it was time, he would hurry to the door, and the next chapter of their performance would begin.

One minute until the guards were in position…she tugged at her clothes until they were in disarray, mussed her hair to make it look like she’d been pulling it out. Then she made her entrance, stage right.

“My head—” she moaned as she shuffled across the perimeter of the camera’s sight. Quickly her laments became more strident, until she was practically screaming animadversions on anything and everything, and pacing back and forth near the table.

She glanced surreptitiously at the clock. Now—

She screamed in rage, grabbed the bowl of tomato soup, now cold, from the tray on the table, and flung it directly at the camera housing.

She seemed to watch in slow motion as it arced through the air, contents sloshing out as the bowl spun…

Had she aimed properly? Would it miss the camera entirely? Would it hit, but dump the liquid on the floor instead of on the camera? An agonizing second passed…

But her aim had been true – the bowl landed more perfectly than she could have dreamed, full onto the camera enclosure, thick red soup splattering all over, dripping down the wall. The bowl itself hung there for a moment, until it fell and clattered to the floor. Even before it dropped V dashed across to the door as she’d instructed.

Meanwhile, Mi-dae gasped in apparent shock, and began wailing in apology, rushing to the door, where she fell to her knees.

Quickly she opened it – using a hair pin; they had no idea how easy these locks were to pick – and shoved V outside. Just as she did the guards came running around the corners from opposite ends of the hallway, and she flung herself at V, playing her part flawlessly.

"I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! I’m so useless, I’m so worthless, I made such a mess—" she wailed, hanging on his neck like a limpet.

"What are you doing here? What happened?" Believer 529 demanded.

"I was just asked to deliver a message to Mr. Ray, and I heard a commotion so I checked—" V stuttered a little, but she didn't think it mattered; these guards might be used to her antics, but it would make sense for other Believers to be taken aback.

"No one is to open her door but us! Please go about your business!"

"Yes, of course, but she's…"

V's arms were still around her, ostensibly holding her up, but…for one second Mi-dae thought she would be sick from the wave of emotion that rolled through her, as strong as it was unexpected. Perhaps that drug was getting into her system more than she realized…that was the only explanation for this despair, this yearning, this chasm of emptiness and regret that yawned behind her; if she let go of him, she would fall…

She squeezed her eyes shut. _Get a hold of yourself Mi-dae. You're no green agent, you can't let emotion fuck up a job!_

She slid down, leaning against V's legs – part of the act, they would assume, but she partially did it because she couldn't look at him anymore.

He would _see_ her, and she couldn't allow that.

He reached down to try to help her up, but the guards pulled him away, and he had to obediently head down the hall toward the server room, or risk ruining the entire plan. She lay there, panting, curled up against the wall outside her room.

For once, she let genuine tears flow unchecked, and her sobs echoed down the hall behind him.

# ***

Zeph took a break from looking at the images – after another several hundred, they were able to confirm that the compound housed an underground garage, and that her aunt seemed to be 'released' into the garden every so often, although usually nothing happened there. Once or twice someone else approached her as she sat on a bench, and seemed to remain for some time – Zeph wondered who it could be, a friend in the compound perhaps?

But then on the second 'visit' from this mystery person, subsequent frames showed with all too much clarity that this was no friend of Mi-dae's. Although the images weren't crystal clear, they were clear enough to show the other person striking Mi-dae, causing her to fall through the ground, and then immediately returning indoors. Mi-dae's escorts seemed to help her up, and then guide her inside as well.

Zeph had to get up from the table and go outside; she burned so hot with rage she thought she might break a sweat. These people…what were they doing to her aunt? Why was she there?

If they were to have any chance of getting her out, she knew they had to have a solid plan. Possibly involving some of Jumin's resources, in addition to Saeyoung and Vanderwood's skills. And that couldn't be accomplished in just a few hours, especially not with the decryption only at 4 percent.

They needed to move to the other safehouse. Saeyoung couldn't make his laptops work any faster; they were good, but there were much more powerful machines at Safehouse 14, he'd said. And now he was just waiting for the process to finish with its current batch and folder, to avoid corrupting any data.

Zeph stepped down the stairs on the little porch and sat.

She had a lot to think about.

Apparently her family had some link to Mint-Eye, or Rika – she might as well just admit that's who it was – thought they did, or wanted them for something. She'd tricked Zeph into joining the RFA, and then somehow kidnapped her aunt too.

And Mi-dae…an agent. One of the best. Zeph could barely wrap her mind around it. It didn't seem that long ago that they'd shared coffee in the village before school…yet in the intervening years she'd probably killed people for her job. Saeyoung had, and he was a hacker, a coder, he probably went into the field less than Mi-dae did.

Suddenly something occurred to Zeph, and she jumped up and ran back inside.

"Seven!" She'd had a bit of a problem remembering to call him Seven rather than Saeyoung, but she hadn't had a chance to speak with him about it since Vanderwood arrived, and she didn't want to risk blurting out his real name and causing an incident. After all, that's how her aunt had gotten in trouble.

"Didn't you say once that you guys had to develop a tolerance to certain poisons and stuff, as part of training?"

He glanced at her briefly, his fingers not pausing on the keys. "Yeah, why?"

"Vanderwood, you said my aunt was one of the best, right?"

He blinked.

"How could they catch her? How could they keep her there, if she's so good? That place wasn't a fortress – Seven and I got in and out without a problem, and yes babe I understand you're a genius and all that but was it _that_ hard?"

"Honestly, no, and getting out would be even easier than getting in…"

"I figure, the only way they could keep her there is if she's drugged all the time – and she definitely sounded drugged when she was outside last night, right?"

"But if she was an agent she'd probably be able to counteract at least some of the drug's effects!" Vanderwood caught on.

"Vanderwood, we don't know what they're giving her – we don't have a tolerance to everything!" Seven objected.

"He has a point."

Zeph began pacing, chewing on her thumb as she traversed the tiny cabin.

"Okay, but she's obviously been there for a couple weeks – that first image was from what, twelve days ago? Before I was contacted about the RFA messenger…hmm."

She was trying to puzzle it out in her head, but there were so many strange facts butting against one another, and so many confusing, conflicting conjectures…plus they had very little real information.

"What…in the hell…" Saeyoung was staring at his phone in shock.

"Seven? What's going on?"

"I got….a text…from V."

"From V??" Zeph abruptly sat on the bed. "Wow, I thought…what does it say??"

He merely turned the phone in her direction, and even from a few feet away she could see his message, in all caps.

"NO SERVICE – ZEPH IN DANGER – AUNT OK, WILL CONTACT SOON – KEEP ZEPH SAFE"


	11. Chapter 11

Zeph clapped a hand over her mouth. V had seen her aunt? How? She was locked up in—

"V's at Mint Eye!" she and Saeyoung said at the same time. But while her tone was one of wonder and surprise, Saeyoung's was one of disappointment.

"I just don't know about this, he could be there because he's involved with that place, him and…and Rika both," he muttered, still staring at the phone screen, as if piercing visual analysis would reveal the truths of the sender.

"But if it's a trap, what's the point?" Zeph countered.

"He doesn’t seem like he's trying to lure you anywhere, get you to do anything," Vanderwood pointed out.

"I can't trust him!" Saeyoung retorted, tossing the phone on the table. "You don't know this guy, Vanderwood, he's fucking full of secrets!"

"Aren't we all?"

Saeyoung gave a frustrated growl, then took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "Okay, say I'm willing to entertain the slight possibility that he's actually helping. What is he doing there? Hmm? If he's not a member of this cult, then why is he at their headquarters?"

Zeph stood up and started pacing again, shooing Vanderwood to the side so she had a free fifteen-foot walk from the couch to the kitchen counter and back.

"Okay, Seven, when was the last time you talked to him?"

"You remember. When he told us not to look in that damn drawer."

"So four days ago. He's been MIA for around that long. His phone was going straight to voicemail, which means it was either off, or he had no service at all—"

"How did you know his phone was going to voicemail? I didn't think you heard all the times I tried to call him…"

Zeph stopped mid-stride, then picked up again. "I umm. I may have called him a couple times myself."

Saeyoung stared at her, perplexed. "Why?"

"I thought maybe…he was avoiding your calls because he didn't want to talk to you about the uhh…the hacker. And I thought he might talk to me, since he kept saying I could call him if I needed, and all that…jazz…anyway, let's move on."

"Ahhh! You're doing it again!"

"I'm doing what??" she demanded, fully stopping now, and turning to stare at him, arms crossed.

"Being cute!"

"Oh for god's sake!" She blushed hotly and put her hands to her face. "Hush, don't make fun of me in front of Vanderwood!"

"I'm—do you seriously think I’m making fun of you??"

He got out of his chair and fell to his knees in front of her, pulling her hands away from her face.

Vanderwood made a noise of disgust. "Heaven help me, I can't deal with you guys – I'm going outside."

Saeyoung ignored him, too busy kissing Zeph's hands.

"I would _never_ make fun of my baby—"

"Yes you would."

"Okay, maybe, but I _currently_ am not, and any time I say you're adorable, I am being a hundred percent sincere."

"You're so ridiculous!" But she put her hand on his face.

"I know one thing that would shut me up," he replied helpfully as he stood up.

"What's that?"

"Kiss me."

She had no problem assenting to this request, and they were silent for a few minutes.

"Mmm…but what got you so worked up about me calling V?" she finally asked when they came up for air.

"Because you were trying to help me. Even when I wouldn’t let you get close to me, because I was being stupid. It's very sweet."

"Oh."

"Mhmm." He kissed her nose.

"Alright, back to our analysis of the problem," she said briskly, and opened the front door to beckon Vanderwood back inside. "We're done being cutesy, your sanity is safe once again."

"Ugh, thank god."

"So what if he’s been there this whole time, trying to…to…”

“To do what, Zeph? Look, I haven’t even told you…” Saeyoung paused, glanced at Vanderwood. “I have a history with V, okay? I’m the first person who would want to believe him, I promise. But…there’s just no explanation for him to be there—”

“You may be right,” she allowed reluctantly. “I’m not saying I do believe him, but I’m just trying to think of alternatives. Because if he’s there, and he really is trying to help, that makes a big difference for us, doesn’t it?”

Saeyoung squinted at her.

“You’re lucky you’re so good at hacking,” Vanderwood drawled. “If you weren’t I’d tell boss to fire you and hire her. I’d fall for her arguments any day.”

“Will you stop!”

“No.”

Saeyoung made a grunt of irritation but turned his back on Vanderwood. “Fine. I guess we should just…wait, for now, until we hear something else. I’ll reserve judgment until then.”

He glanced at his computer screen, and rushed back to sit in front of it. “Decryption of that folder is finished – let’s get out of here.”

Within ten minutes they’d loaded up the cars – Vanderwood had driven his own car to the cabin, and Saeyoung eyed the sedan with visible distaste as they packed the Ashton Marden.

“Hey! In a couple days I’ll have Ji-a, and you can’t make fun of my car anymore!” Vanderwood seemed determined to remind his partner at every turn of the promise he’d made.

“Yeah, yeah, as long as I can remember the password to the lock box…”

“As long as _WHAT_ —”

But Saeyoung had gotten in the car, and Zeph stifled a giggle as she climbed into the passenger side.

It only took an hour – and several turns and backtracks – to reach their destination.

As Saeyoung had promised, this one looked much more promising – a normal house, almost, although the yard was rather overgrown, and the location was quite remote.

But it was completely off the grid until they powered up the house’s solar batteries and engaged the satellite connection. The latter of which they would wait to do until they really needed it, just in case.

A three bedroom house, one of the rooms being dedicated to an array of powerful computers which would draw most of the power; there was even a backup generator in case the solar batteries didn’t have enough juice. And a real, decent-sized bathroom, a whole kitchen that was stocked with food – Zeph was beyond relieved. The idea of spending a few days alone in a remote cabin with Saeyoung had seemed romantic at first, but their situation really wasn’t romantic at all, and then Vanderwood showed up…

Zeph had checked the messenger as they left; Saeyoung revealed they wouldn’t be able to use it once they got to this house, until the satellite connection was reinitialized. No one was on yet; the party must still have been going. She left the others a quick message that they were still safe, and she hoped the party had gone well, but they wouldn’t be able to communicate for a while, and not to worry. Then she closed the app, for what would probably be quite a while.

She felt another wave of guilt that she’d been unable to fulfill her role as the party’s coordinator; of course, it wasn’t the biggest priority at the moment, but she still regretted leaving the job to others when she’d committed to it.

But she’d find a way to make it up to them later; right now they had to focus on the matter at hand.

# ***

_28…29…30…_

She couldn’t stop counting.

_86…87…88…_

If she did, the drug would take hold.

_113…114…was V safe?_

_Stop! 115…116…_

_Rika could have him locked up at any time, what if—_

_No!_ She felt the pain of the drug swell, and with it euphoria – maybe just this once, she could—

Fine, if counting wasn’t effective, she’d try a new tactic.

_His eyes. Remember his eyes._

This would never work, this wasn’t what she was taught, she just had to…keep…counting…

_They’re lighter in the center. Pale tendrils the color of the waves as they hit the sand. Flaring outward into the deeper teal that reminds me of that beach in Bali…_

The euphoria receded, though the pain continued to rise. But the pain wasn’t important.

A soft hand caressed her cheek. “It’s so different with you, than with the others,” the quiet voice whispered. “It’s like you’re thinking, the whole time, I can see your eyes moving behind the lids when you close them…what are you thinking? Just tell me, let it go…”

In a way the pain helped, gave her something physical to root herself to.

Her father hadn’t wanted this for her, or so he’d always said. Neither had she, until her sister…

No, she had to focus. Couldn’t let her thoughts wander.

“Maybe I can help you, Mi-Dae…I’ve told you so many times…why do you refuse my help?”

That soft hand trailed down to her throat. Latched on, stronger than Mi-Dae would have thought. But she didn’t squeeze hard, not yet.

“Savior,” came another voice from behind her. “You should allow one of us to—”

“SHUT UP!” Rika screamed over Mi-Dae’s head, her face below the mask for one moment twisting into something hideous. But then the smile was back. “I want to understand her, to help her, and I will do it myself, this time.”

“Yes, Savior, I apologize—”

“Did you know that I’ve only ever helped one other person like this? And now he’s abandoned me…” she sounded more contemplative, curious, than betrayed.

She must mean Ray…but where had he gone? She couldn’t ask and risk betraying her lucidity…

“We will find him, Savior, don’t worry.”

Now the hand tightened.

“I know. And I will help him again, just like before. Like all the times before.”

Mi-Dae wasn’t struggling to breathe, not yet; of course an agent could regulate their breathing—

Rika’s right hand joined her left. Those small hands, so much stronger than anticipated. She began to see stars behind her eyes.

“Just tell me, Mi-Dae. Don’t make me give you more elixir. If you don’t tell me soon, I’ll have to make it hurt.”

Mi-Dae sniveled something unintelligible, as she always did, a cover for the thoughts actually running through her head. Thoughts that were beginning to fade…

Darkness closed in from all sides, and her vision narrowed further and further until all she could see was Rika’s face…

But then she let go. Stood back. Her left hand was at Mi-dae’s cheek again…

“So pretty,” Rika whispered. “Perhaps if I took that away, you could concentrate on what was really important. Perhaps then you’d tell me…”

The fact that Rika had ever passed for a sane human being really spoke volumes about the tier of psychosis she’d achieved…

Her fingers curled, and Mi-Dae felt sharp nails digging into her skin.

“Should I? Maybe just a little…scratch…”

She smiled again, and slowly drug three nails across Mi-Dae’s smooth cheek.

It hurt, but Mi-Dae had had much worse during training. In fact, the elixir caused much more potent pain than this. But she had to react or Rika would catch onto her. She wailed under her breath, trying to turn away, but hands – larger, male hands, one of the Believers – held her head still from behind.

Why would the woman keep her nails that sharp? Mi-Dae felt blood running down her face.

“S-savior,” she whispered, allowing tears to trickle from her eyes.

“Yes, my dear? You want to tell me something?” Rika leaned in eagerly, pupils dilated in her lime green eyes.

“What is it…you want me to say? I’ll say anything…I promise…I just want you to be happy…” The words were sour in her mouth, but she knew how to make it believable.

Rika sighed. She stepped back, shoulders rounding a bit in disappointment.

“I see. Perhaps you really are ignorant of the facts. I can tell I’ve wasted too much time on you. There will not be any more questions, Mi-Dae. The only thing about you that can bring me happiness now…is your pain.”

Then Rika slapped her, her small hand full of the same unexpected force it had had around her throat. But though Mi-Dae cried out amid mumbled apologies, her mind raced.

She’d failed to glean anything of importance from Rika; in fact she’d learned more in half an hour with V than in all the questions she’d asked of the other woman. The problem was that Rika’s insanity made all of Mi-Dae’s training obsolete. She couldn’t judge how to manipulate answers out of her, because the tools she would normally use were completely ineffective. If she had more time with her, she thought she could come up with a solution, but it seemed time was something she’d just run out of.

When Rika stood back, her blows had left a few red welts on her face, her right cheek stinging almost as much as the left, but Mi-Dae considered she’d come out of this session rather well. Until Rika spoke again.

“Believer 134, initiate a Tier 4 cleansing on this Disciple. There are 3 bottles of elixir there. Before you begin, give her two of them.”

Mi-Dae squeezed her eyes shut. What the hell was Tier 4 cleansing? She hadn’t heard of that once since she’d been here…

“Yes, Savior.” A second male voice; she’d known there were two of them back there, but this one hadn’t yet spoken. He came around in front of her as Rika took a position in a fancy chair a little ways away.

And then he unhooked the closure of his robes.

 _Shit shit SHIT_! This was not in the plan, there was no way she was downing any more of that elixir, and she sure as hell wasn’t about to get ‘cleansed’ by some rando in a robe (well, now he was _out_ of it). It was time to end this charade.

But before she could evaluate the best plan, a knock came on the door.

Rika growled and yanked the door open, but Mi-dae saw her perk up as the Believer outside whispered to her.

“Continue!” she tossed over her shoulder. “They’ve traced Ray, I’m going to retrieve him.”

“As you wish, Savior.”

“For Eternal Paradise,” Rika intoned, then left, and 134 turned to pick up one of the elixir bottles.

Mi-Dae thanked the universe once again that these idiots weren’t really very skilled at torture, and never bothered to restrain her. Well, with two decent-sized men in the room – and with her a little depleted due to the elixir – surely there was no chance of her escape?

Of course not…

Mi-Dae came out of the chair, one foot in the seat, the other leg twirling around to kick 134 squarely in the back of the head. He went down like a stone, but he wouldn’t be unconscious; she’d have needed her boots on for that. She whirled and ducked down to avoid the other man’s attempt to grab her, jabbed out from below his grasp with her knuckles, and caught him in the throat. He coughed, one hand going to his neck.

She knew the location of every object in the room; it was the second thing she automatically did every time they brought her down here: evaluate anything she could use if needed, and that could be used against her. The first thing was to analyze the personnel present, which she hadn’t been able to do this time as they’d been brought in from the other door, when she was already seated.

She kneed the second Believer in the groin (easiest tactic in pretty much any situation) and then reached past him to the stool he’d likely been sitting on – as he went down, she cracked him over the head with the little stool. He was out.

134 came for her again, but he was a little dazed, and she easily whipped around behind him, pulled an arm behind his back, and slammed his head into the wall. Done.

Suddenly the rear door to the chamber opened, and a third man rushed in – she hadn’t anticipated that, but a split-second glance behind him at the door showed a little room with video equipment…were they _filming_ the torture sessions?

She thought she couldn’t be more disgusted with Rika, but clearly she’d underestimated her moral decrepitude.

But she couldn’t think about that now – the third Believer was advancing.

She didn’t have time to incapacitate him, too, she had to get out of there and find her things.

And find V.

She backed up to the door, watching every movement he made to follow. Reached behind her, turned the handle.

And backed right into another tall, robed figure.

_Dammit._


	12. Chapter 12

“At least this place is less dusty than that damn cabin,” Vanderwood was grumbling.

“Hey Vanderwood, do maids cook, too?” Zeph asked innocently, and then dodged a couch pillow that was hurled in her direction.

“You haven’t even seen his house,” he retorted. “If I didn’t clean it you might never see him again, he’d be buried under his cans of PhD Pepper and bags of stupid chips!”

“Hey! I clean _sometimes_ ,” Saeyoung objected.

“Yeah, whenever you need a space to build one of your weird robots or something!”

“I like his robots,” Zeph interjected. Vanderwood sighed.

“I’m beginning to think Ji-a isn’t enough recompense for coming out here – you didn’t fully disclose the situation before I agreed to it—”

“Hey! That car cost like a bajillion yon! And I thought you liked Zeph??”

“I do like _Zeph_ ,” Vanderwood answered pointedly, and Saeyoung squinted.

“Can you two knock it off? We should probably eat something, and yes that includes you, Honey Buddha Man,” she deadpanned, glancing over her shoulder at Saeyoung as she rummaged through the cabinets.

“Aww, you called me honey!”

She rolled her eyes. “Will you just go get your things set up so we can get those files decrypted? Why are you wasting time teasing me and Vanderwood both?”

He pouted, and she relented and walked back over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Aha!” he exclaimed, standing up straighter and then heading down the hallway. “God-Seven’s resources have been replenished! Defender of Justice reporting for duty!”

“Please come back in approximately twenty minutes for Justice Battery Recharge,” she called after him.

Vanderwood was washing plates that he apparently thought had been in the cabinet too long. Zeph walked up next to him and began opening some cans of stew she’d found.

He cast a sidelong glance at her. “How do you put up with him?”

She paused for a moment turning the can opener, then resumed. She wasn’t sure what to say, couldn’t say what she _might_ say…

Her cheeks turned pink.

“Ah.”

“He’s cute,” she mumbled lamely, knowing from his tone that Vanderwood saw right through her.

“You know…normally when people get close to him, he scuttles away. Like any good agent should.”

She shrugged. “I guess he’s not ready to scuttle just yet.”

“Or _you’re_ not.”

Her eyes flew to his, the stew forgotten. “What do you mean, me?”

“Seven’s not the only agent in this house, you know.”

The skin so recently warm now turned pale. “I..I don’t know what you—”

“Does he know?”

Zeph’s gaze dropped to her hands. No use denying any of it, although she wasn’t about to volunteer any information – she wasn’t that stupid. She gave a tiny nod.

“Good. Better for you to tell him than he find out through work channels somehow,” he said matter-of-factly, and she met his eyes again.

“Why are you…”

He returned his attention to the dishes. “I’m sure you understand I had to read over your file before I came out here, I had to know what I was getting into.”

“Oh.” So he’d…investigated her? Himself? She guessed she might have done the same, in his position, but… “But Seven didn’t know anything about me, how could you?”

“He’s good at hacking, Zeph. I’m good at…other things.” Well that was cryptic. Did she even want to know? Maybe not. “Side note, we can help you clean up your backstory a little, after this is all over.”

“You make me sound like I’m a character in a book…”

“Well, your past is pretty…colorful. Anyone that really paid attention could see how certain events line up with you suddenly moving…”

“Shit.” She’d done such a good job, she thought, at covering her tracks, but apparently not quite good enough; and it wasn’t like she had training for it…

“It’s okay, I wouldn’t be too worried, I mean like I said they’d have to be looking pretty—”

“Vanderwood!” she burst out, loud enough that Saeyoung came running from the other room.

“I swear, if you—” he growled as he ran into the room.

“Seven, hush!” she interrupted him. “Vanderwood, if what you say is true…think about it. My Aunt at Mint-Eye too? Her abducted, at least in some sense, and me manipulated into joining the RFA, so they could keep an eye on me?”

She glanced between the two men, who were clearly not quite getting her point.

“What if they _are_ looking?”

# ***

Mi-Dae was already processing the possibilities in her head; she might not be able to best them both at once, not when they expected it, which the first two hadn’t. But maybe if she—

“Believer 314,” came V’s voice from behind her, and she nearly let her relief show in her face. “What has happened here? I was sent to collect Miss Kyoh but it seems you have had some difficulty?”

“Miss Kyoh is more than she appears,” the other man replied, coming a little closer, his eyes momentarily leaving her to peer into V’s hood.

She grabbed V’s hands – to the other man it probably looked like V was holding her arms behind her back. Just a little closer….there.

Using V’s hands as leverage she jumped and planted her foot right underneath the man’s chin. Even as he stumbled backwards, she released V’s hands, darted to the side, grabbed a pitcher of water on the counter, and slammed it over the Believer’s head, the liquid pouring over him and splattering everywhere as the glass broke.

She turned to find V blinking – she was honestly surprised he’d managed a suitable comment when he opened the door to find two grown men in the floor, knowing it was by her hand.

“I suppose you didn’t need rescuing, but…are you alright? Your face…”

Mi-Dae put a hand to her cheek, where the blood was beginning to dry. “It’s nothing.” She grabbed the towel on the counter and wiped at her face; it stung, but she didn’t have time to worry about it.

V was opening cabinets, and found one containing bottles of water. He opened a bottle, then took the towel from Mi-Dae’s hands, wet it, and gently applied it to her cheek again.

She closed her eyes. _Don’t be an idiot…_

“Thank you,” she said brusquely when he was done. “Now if I just knew where my things were—”

“That’s why I was trying to find you – I found out where they are. And they have Saeran—I mean, Ray, you have to help—”

“I will. She can’t have been gone after him long, there’s still time.” Hopefully if there was enough commotion about him leaving they’d be able to accomplish this without running into too many Believers…

He nodded and led her down the hall, up two flights of stairs to the first floor, and then through a rather luxuriously carpeted corridor.

Into Rika’s rooms.

Mi-Dae shivered; she knew she was imagining it, but it felt like a cloud of ill emotions hung in the air.

She glanced at V, noticing he’d stopped cold in the doorway.

He looked like he might be sick.

“The…the smell…” he whispered, and she hurried back.

“Just stand outside.” She pushed him backwards, out the door a couple feet. “Do you know where my things are kept?”

“A…a wardrobe or something,” he mumbled, clearing his throat. She nodded and went back into the room, almost wanting to hold her own nose, now. It was a foolish sensation, but knowing that this was Rika’s smell, permeating her nostrils…

She shook her head and looked around; found what she was looking for immediately. She opened the doors and there was her overnight bag, with her clothes neatly folded on top of it.

They must not have inspected her belongings very closely, or they would have found that some of them weren’t what they seemed.

She fairly ripped off the dress, glad to finally be out of the frilly nonsense they’d been forcing her to wear. V coughed, and when she looked up he’d turned away.

Well, there wasn’t time for her to be prudish.

She threw her clothes on, a sigh of relief when her boots were on and laced up, the 2 inches of heel – and the heel’s contents – giving her a confidence boost she’d been missing since she got here.

When she was done V led her back down the stairs. “You’re…very different,” he whispered.

“Why are we going back down here? Aren’t we leaving?”

“There’s a—”

She yanked him into an open closet as she heard footsteps about to round the corner.

Put a finger to his lips, then jerked her hand away a second later. He smiled slightly, and while she was staring through the cracked door, she could feel his eyes on her. His gaze was so intense it was nearly physical.

“What do you mean, _different_?” she asked, eyes still on the hallway.

“More.”

She blinked. Opened the door again, and they resumed their path.

“I’ll explain later. I was saying, there’s a garage down here. With several cars in it; they’re all open with the keys inside.”

She glanced sideways at him. “I’m impressed at what you’ve been able to learn,” she murmured. “Think what you could do with training…”

“Are you offering me a job?” he asked, a laugh in his voice.

She smiled without humor. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

They got to a door with a key card entry, and Mi-Dae cursed herself for a fool for not rifling through the pockets of those Believers in the ‘torture room’—

But V had it covered, pulling a card out of his robes and swiping it. The light turned green, and he carefully opened the door, scanning the garage before pushing it fully open.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

That chuckle again. “Well, I’ve been here for some time, hiding, watching, so I’ve learned a few things. I’m no Scarlet Widow though.”

Mi-Dae snorted. “I’m hardly that.” But she was secretly gratified at being likened to the comic book hero; she was a bit of a fan, herself.

There were only three cars left in the large garage, and Mi-Dae made a beeline for the fastest looking one. “I assume you know where they’ve gone? Where Saeran is?”

He pulled a phone out of the pocket of his robe. “I took a picture of some coordinates, hopefully it’s enough?” He showed it to her, and she nodded. She opened her bag and found her phone at the bottom, then tossed the bag in the miniscule back seat. As V had promised, the keys were already in the car.

But just as she was about to plug in the coordinates, she decided to double check to see if her phone had been tampered with – she knew that Ray was a skilled hacker, he could have planted a bug, although she didn’t know why he’d bother when they had her locked up.

She carefully took the outside case off, then swiped a thumb over what looked like the brand emblem on the back, and the phone gave a little chime.

No bugs.

She snapped the case back on and programmed the coordinates into the map. They ascended a steep drive to get to the garage door, which automatically opened when they approached, cloudy skies revealing themselves through the growing gap.

She was free.

She may have told V that she could escape at any time, and it was mostly true. But as she rolled the window down and they picked up speed, she smiled – she couldn’t help but be happy to be clear of that place.

“Now,” she said sternly, glancing at V. “I think you have some explaining to do.”

# ***

“You think they have something personal against you and your aunt?” Vanderwood crossed his arms and leaned against the counter.

“What else am I supposed to think? Why else would they target the two of us?”

Saeyoung was staring at the floor, amber eyes intent as he concentrated on a thought process only he could follow.

“We won’t know anything until these files get done decoding. Even then, there may not be anything about Mi-Dae.” He chewed on his thumb.

“How much longer, do you think?” Zeph stirred the stew absentmindedly, and spoke over her shoulder.

“Another five, six hours probably, although I should be able to start looking at some data within a few minutes. I already checked what was on the first files that were decoded before we left, and there’s nothing in them we didn’t already know – Rika’s involvement, financials, information about the building and the organization, but nothing that bears digging into right now.”

“I hate to ask this, but...what do we do if V contacts you again? I mean – _can_ he, even, since we’re off the grid?”

Saeyoung gave a little grumble, but didn’t discount it out of hand. “I suppose I could encrypt the signal of one of my phones to be able to receive a text only…”

“It might be a good idea; whether he’s really on our side or not, we should try to get whatever info we can from him, right?” She turned away from the stove again, but he was already gone.

“He’s very touchy about that guy,” Vanderwood mused.

Zeph nodded. “They have a lot of history, most of which I don’t know about.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?”

She threw some biscuits she’d found in the freezer into a pan. “What? That I don’t know all his secrets? He hardly knows all mine…”

“But you’re okay with…being with someone like that? Someone who has things to hide?”

She shrugged as she shoved the pan into the hot oven. “Yeah, I guess I am.” But when she straightened, she stared hard at Vanderwood, his velvet brown eyes unfocused, a little crease between his brows.

“Why do you want me to doubt him so much?”

He started a little, glanced at her, looked away. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“It’s like you’re eager to find a flaw. In what we have. And I’m not saying you won’t; nothing is perfect. But why do you want to?”

“Because,” he murmured, still not looking at her, almost as if he’d already forgotten she was there. “If you two can have it, that means anyone can. It means I can. Could have, anyway…”

He seemed to shake himself from a reverie, and pushed away from the counter. “Sorry, I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’m gonna go outside and check the perimeter.”

Zeph watched him go with sad eyes. She knew it was hard, being an agent. Saeyoung had tried to push her away for this very reason. But Vanderwood…he was older. Around 30, she thought – he’d probably been living this life a good bit longer than Saeyoung. How must it affect people, ditching all their relationships every few years, months even? How many times could you do that before your capacity to feel was irreparably damaged?

She hoped Saeyoung had avoided such a fate.

She was startled out of her somber thoughts when their object snuck up behind her – or tried to. Just as he was about to grab her, she held up a finger.

“Please remember what happened to a certain other young man who tried to grab me from behind?”

He sighed heavily. “I feel like this relationship is just going to be me getting owned by you over and over again anyway.”

“I’m glad you have realistic expectations,” she answered primly as she got the biscuits out of the oven.

But after she set the pan on the counter, he did embrace her, arms snaking around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder. “God-Zeph,” he said softly, with a little chuckle. “Do you really think we can do this?”

“Find your brother? Absolutely. The most brilliant mind in the country is on the case, after all.” She leaned back against him.

“Mmm, your compliments are what keep my batteries charged, babe. But I meant more so…us.”

Zeph bit her lip, trying not to overreact when she didn’t really even know what he meant. “You…don’t think we can…can stay together?”

“It’s not that, I just…I worry about the agency, about everything…”

Zeph  turned around in his arms. “Yes, we can do it.”

“How do you know? It’s a big deal, leaving, I just—”

“I said, _we can_ – how dare you doubt the precognitive powers of God-Zeph?”

He grinned. “I apologize for my lapse, let me make it up to you—” 

And then he was kissing her, his tongue teasing her lips as she ran her hands up his back—

“Hey, hey, hey!!” Vanderwood objected from the front door. “I can’t leave you two alone for five damn minutes, ugh!”

His “annoyed older brother” face was back on, but now Zeph wondered how much of it was a façade. But she could analyze that more later; now, it was time to eat.


	13. Chapter 13

“His name is Saeran; Ray is some nickname he took on after joining Mint Eye,” V explained as they sped through the forest road heading north away from Mint Eye. “I’m…not sure how much I am at liberty to tell you, but—”

“V. If I’m to help you with this, you have to tell me the truth.” Still he hesitated. “Would it make you feel better to know I could probably get all this information on my own?”

He glanced aside at her, and she got the feeling it definitely did not make him feel better. But he relented.

“Fine. But please understand that no one else knows this, Rika and I are the only ones.”

Her hands gripped the steering wheel, but she showed no reaction in her face. She nodded.

“It seems that your niece…and Luciel…were here. Yesterday, when I first came to your room.”

“They were _here_? As in, captured as well, or—”

“No. They broke in.”

“For WHAT!” She didn’t know whether to be proud or incensed…

“The people I talked to don’t know, but Saeran left right after, so he must have run into them…”

Mi-Dae was shocked to see V lean forward, head in hands. Why was he so upset about this development? It was _her_ niece in danger here…unless…

“V…what is your relationship to Saeran? You can’t be his—”

“We are not related,” he mumbled. “At least, not by blood. By act, I was supposed to be his protector. Him and Luciel both.”

He turned to her, and there were tears in his vivid eyes. “They are brothers.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t see the significance. I don’t know anything about this Luciel—”

“Several years ago, almost ten in fact, Rika and I helped Luciel and Saeran get out of a bad home situation. At least, that was the intention. We had to separate them; Luciel now works for a…hacker agency, I suppose you could call it. And Saeran…was supposed to be…”

“She got a hold of him, didn’t she? Without you knowing?” She’d seen Saeran act wildly different during the time she’d been at Mint Eye, and it didn’t take a psychology degree to see that Rika had damaged him somehow. The way he revered her – and feared her – it was unnatural.

“I had no idea he was like this…he was such a sweet boy, I don’t know what she could have done to him—”

“I have an idea,” Mi-Dae interrupted, her voice low and hard. Rika had mentioned that she’d ‘personally’ helped Ray, the only other Believer to receive such direct attention from her.

“She tortured him. Much worse than she did to me, I suspect.” Maybe not worse than what she’d intended to do today, Mi-dae remembered with a churning in her stomach.

“ _God_ ….it’s all my fault, I never should have let her near him!”

“V, it’s not your fault, she’s—”

“Yes! _It is_!” His vehemence shocked her. “You don’t understand, Mi-dae, I _knew_ she was like this. Well – not like _this_ , but I knew she wasn’t right. I knew she was….dark, inside. But I thought if I stayed with her, if I let her…” he turned away, looking back out the window. “And yet, in my stupidity I let her take charge of the care of a teenage boy – a very impressionable, sensitive boy at that. Everything that’s happened to him can be directly laid at my door.”

Mi-dae sighed. She couldn’t argue with him; he knew the facts better than she. And from what he said…maybe he was right.

“Fine. Maybe it is partially your fault, but we’re going to work on righting things now, aren’t we?”

He hastily wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his robe before he spoke, his voice much quieter now. “Yes…yes we are. I’m sorry to draw you into this…family drama, I suppose you could call it.”

“A huge cult with hundreds of followers and a fortune in financing is hardly what I would call family drama, V.”

“I suppose it has evolved past what I ever dreamed or feared…”

“Let’s get back to the facts,” she interrupted, not wanting him to fall back into his dark recollections and self-recrimination. “So you think Luciel and Saeran saw each other, and then Saeran ran. Do you think he’s figured out the truth about Rika?”

V shook his head. “I don’t know. It seems he must be having some sort of…inner turmoil, or he wouldn’t have left, he would have just gone to Rika immediately, or even just alerted someone in the compound of his brother’s presence. But he didn’t, he didn’t tell anyone. In fact, Zeph and Luciel were there for several hours, locked in the server room, with no one the wiser.”

“Jesus…if only I’d known, I could have done something…”

“There must be limits even to your capabilities, Mi-Dae.”

She thought he meant it as a compliment, but it felt vaguely insulting. “Fair enough, and I suppose they made it out fine. But…if you didn’t know about Saeran’s situation, then surely his brother didn’t either? So wouldn’t he be just as affected by this meeting?”

V nodded morosely. “Yes, and if his trust in me was waning before….”

“Didn’t you text them yesterday and let them know I was ok?”

“Yes, but he hasn’t responded…”

“Maybe you should give him an update. If necessary, I can put in a good word. If he doesn’t trust you, Zeph will trust my judgment about you. At least, I think she will – after all this time…”

“Why would you help me mend my relationship with him? What does it matter to you?”

Mi-Dae stared at the trees whipping past in a blur. Then shrugged. “You’ve helped me out a lot over the past few days. I appreciate it.”

“I see.”

She raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

“So…can you contact Zeph? I don’t have her number, I’ve only ever contacted her through the app…”

“The app?”

“The RFA app that Luciel designed, it’s heavily encrypted so it’s safe to discuss RFA guest information through it…”

“Ah. Well, yes, I have her number, I’ve kept tabs on her all these years, so—”

“Wait, I thought you two were close?”

Mi-Dae sighed heavily. Now it was her turn to reveal her family issues, she supposed. Tit for tat.

“I haven’t seen her in about fifteen years. I’ve only contacted her once during that time.”

V sat back in the passenger seat. “Wow. May I ask why?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I already know some of it – Luciel checked her information when she joined the RFA. I know she was orphaned at a young age, and that she lived with several families over the years.”

“Yes.” Mi-Dae swallowed, thinking of that year at the farmhouse, sunny afternoons in the woods, walking to town together in the mornings. If only things had been different… “Due to the…occupation…of her parents, Zeph’s safety after they died was a paramount concern. She couldn’t stay with any family for very long. Including myself. And…you’ll pardon me if I don’t share with you the details of when she left me – it’s very…it’s hard to…”

V put a hand on her knee, and she bit her lip, hard. She couldn’t afford to get emotional about it, not now. She was still on the job, as it were.

She cleared her throat, and shot him a weary smile. “I’m fine, thank you.”

“You needn’t tell me anything else, I’m sorry for asking.” He didn't remove his hand, and it took all Mi-dae's willpower not to concentrate on it, warm through the fabric of her pants.

“No, it’s only fair I share my painful past with you in kind,” she replied, her voice betraying nothing. “But in any case, now that all this is happening I see no reason to maintain radio silence, if you will. Perhaps she and Luciel can help us with this situation, even.”

“I don’t know if it’s wise to just…dump all this information on them, perhaps we should just handle it ourselves, I’d rather not get them—”

“V. Hiding things from people is part of what got us both in this mess.”

He stared at her. “I…I suppose you’re right. I just don’t want them to get hurt…”

“It seems to me they’re already embroiled in this. Keeping secrets now will make their position _less_ safe, not more. Trust me, I don’t like it either – you can imagine how unnatural it is for me to volunteer information in my line of work. But all this time, I’ve kept my distance from her, thinking it was better, and look where we ended up? It helped absolutely nothing.”

V didn’t answer, bright eyes fixed, unseeing, on the road that swept underneath them. But she was confident she’d gotten through to him.

# ***

Zeph sat on the front porch of the safehouse, a mug of coffee in her hand. The sky was painted a myriad of colors as the sun sunk below the tree line, marking the house with shadows, leaving a chill in the air.

Saeyoung came through the door, sat down beside her in silence. They’d been analyzing the second batch of data for hours, and found even more troubling truths about the organization they’d infiltrated.

It was national; possibly even international. There were Mint Eye locations all over the country.

And it had been started with RFA money.

Zeph knew her reaction to these findings was a lot more mild than what Saeyoung’s must be; he’d known Rika, since he was young. She and V had helped him years ago, although Zeph didn’t know the details of what they’d done. And now, for her to turn into this…deranged cult leader…it was shocking, to say the least.

Saeyoung’s phone buzzed, and he pulled it from his pocket.

“It’s V,” he said quietly, and Zeph could tell he couldn’t quite decide how to react. He stared at the notification for a minute before unlocking the screen and opening the text. He held it out so Zeph could see it too.

_“I’m with Mi-Dae, we’ve left Mint Eye, we’re looking for Saeran, update you as soon as I can.”_

They were out of that place? Thank _god_!

Saeyoung blinked. “What? _WHAT_? They’re looking for—so Saeran just _left_? And what…dammit! Give me more information than that! Why is he always keeping—” the phone buzzed again.

_“Is this line secure? Can I call?”_

Saeyoung heaved a deep sigh. “Maybe he’s finally going to tell me something, after all.”

Zeph kissed his cheek, and stood. “I’ll let you talk to him alone.”

“Batteries recharged, guess now is the best time,” he joked half-heartedly. She touched his hair briefly, and went back into the house.

Zeph and Vanderwood went back to analyzing the files; the last set of data would be decrypted in another hour or so. Deep shadows began to blanket the house.

Finally, after over half an hour had passed – Zeph having checked on him through the front window multiple times – Saeyoung trudged back into the house, dazed.

Vanderwood glanced at him, then at Zeph. “I’m gonna go have a smoke.” He took up Saeyoung’s vacated post on the porch, shutting the door behind him.

“They’re okay, for now.” Saeyoung sat heavily in the chair Vanderwood had vacated.

“What do you mean, for now?”

“They’re…trying to get to Saeran before Rika does. But…he might not cooperate.”

“Shit,” she breathed. “I guess…he might not trust V either, huh? Do _you_ , now? Or has anything changed?”

He was silent for a minute, gaze riveted to the table, where his hand traced the grains of the wood.

“He told me a lot of things. I…think I believe him? I kind of have to…”

“Why?”

“Mi-Dae vouched for him.”

“You talked to her??” Zeph nearly got out of her chair.

“She just chimed in from the background. She was driving.”

“I…what did she say?”

He finally looked up. “She said to tell you she’s still real? And that she’ll buy you a latte when this is all over?”

Zeph had never simultaneously laughed and burst into tears, but she did so now. She wiped her eyes with a smile, shaking her head.

“Sorry, I’m stupid to be so emotional about it, when you’ve got Saeran to worry about—”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t turn off your feelings just because I have stuff going on too.” He scooted next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

She sniffled. “Thanks. So...how does this change our next move?”

He chewed on his lip and stared at the floor. “Well…I think since your aunt is with him…we can safely leave finding Saeran to her and V. At least for now.”

“Good. From what Vanderwood said I’m sure she can help.”

Saeyoung nodded. “At first I thought it was a terrible idea for him to see V, but then…it’s probably even worse for him to see me, after all he told us at Mint Eye…he thinks I’m…some kind of monster, who betrayed him—”

“It’s not his fault, or yours,” Zeph insisted, squeezing his arm. “He was clearly fed lies from the beginning, and now we know V wasn’t a part of that…we know Saeran was just manipulated. We’ll help him understand, okay? Once we get him away from those people.”

He gave her a brief, small smile, but she figured that’s all she could hope for, right now.

But all in all, things were looking up – her aunt was out of that cult headquarters, her and V were together, and hopefully Saeran would be with them before the much more time had passed.

“But where is he, did they say?”

He looked up, his eyes suddenly full of what almost looked to her like fear.

“He’s going home.”


End file.
